Character Analysis

Ella Walsh                                                                                                                                            705

         In the book "Pay It Forward" by Catherine Ryan Hyde, the main character- a twelve year old boy named Trevor McKinney- is very optimistic.  His father left him a year prior when his mother, Arlene, found out he had been cheating on his first wife with her. But despite his neglectful father and recovering alcoholic mother, Trevor was a very bright and innovative boy. For example, when his teacher, Reuben St. Claire, gave the class an assignment to think of an idea on how to change the world, Trevor thought of "Pay It Forward." Completely born out of his own mind, Pay It Forward was a fantastic idea that could really make a difference. The idea was that someone does three people a big favor. Then those three people each do three other people big favors. For example, you could give someone a place to live, a job offering, money, or paint their house for free. Then hopefully many people would do it and the world would be a better place. Although Trevor's life had been wrecked in a variety of ways he was able to create an idea that could turn things around for himself and many other people, and it did. 
Trevor also has high hopes for people. Maybe it was that he was young or innocent or naive but he believed that people really would pay it forward, not just take the favor and move on. I think sometimes adults have seen too many failures in life that they're not capable of believing in innocent but possible ideas. In the book, Trevor's idea changed many people's lives and I think the point the author is trying to get across is no matter how crazy or not possible an idea may sound, it's worth trying and believing in.