"Chesapeake" by Stanley Suter.

How does the author use characterization/character development throughout the book?

          This week I have been reading "Chesapeake" and its been a struggle. I'm finding it very hard to follow how fast the Author is going through timelines with deaths and births, the whole family tree is extremely confusing. When I was reading this week I found that Fitzhugh and his son, Rosalind's step-son had died because of old age and pirates as well as her own daughter, while Rosalind's step son's wife had a new baby, and then moved back to where their house used to be, all within the space of two pages. In the book, Rosalind is looking to make a new house after a pirate attack on her house that killed two children. She was also forced to take care of the children that her husband was helping from the swamp.

          First I would like to explain how the author uses characterization for Rosalind. He starts "She had the strange feeling that she had been ferried up the bay to bring order into this household, and that without her it could not be achieved." From this, as a reader I felt that she thought her biggest priority was to be a mother and take care of the house. Later on we find her disregarding her families safety and trying to reshape the entire city. I believe that the author did this because he wanted the readers to see Rosalind as a sort of protagonist, or lower than society standards so that you could feel how the others despised her and often brought her into court.

          The other character that I would like to discuss would be Fitzhugh, the husband of Rosalind. When we first meet him, he says "You know of course, that Flora Turlock, thats Nelly's  mother... Have you seen her Rosalind? Mrs.Steed shook her head." From this quote I am next to positive that the author wanted to put a negative look on Fitzhugh. He showed him cheating on his wife, and her having to hear it from someone else. He did this because he wanted to show the Steed couple, having the most noble name on the island, pretty much fall apart just because of that couple, and really showing how easily you can fall from such great heights.