Portia’s Choice: Network Graph

The story I chose was called “Portia’s Choice”. The plot centers around the main character, Annie, who is 14, and her taboo relationship with Gerry, a man twice her age. On the graph, I included even the characters who did not really interact with the characters but I felt important to mention because they matter a lot in the progression of Gerry and Annie’s introduction and development.

Gerry and Annie came to meet because of their mothers, and Gerry is supposed to help and tutor Annie for her Drama class. Annie soon becomes infatuated with Gerry because of his charm and good looks, and Gerry notices. They then begin to secretly call each other during her school lunch time after sharing a kiss during a tutoring session, and Gerry takes advantage of Annie’s naivety and inexperience. Annie compares a lot of book characters to herself and Gerry, and when she tells him that she likes the book Lolita, he gets mad at her because he thinks she is comparing her to a “pervert”. Annie soon realizes that Gerry is taking advantage of her and does not “love” her like she says she “loves” him, and tells her parents about the whole ordeal after having a breakdown at school and never speaks to him again, even after she has turned the legal age and he tries to contact her again.

Although characters like Gerry’s mom and Annie’s math teacher were only mentioned once, I felt it important to include on the graph because Gerry’s mom helped in introducing to main characters, and Annie’s math teacher saw her when she had a breakdown at school and helped her. I also included the characters from books that Annie mentions because she compares them to her and to Gerry, and they are representative of how she saw her and Gerry’s relationship at the time (Lolita, Portia, Humbert, Bassanio). The tall, red head boy that she mentions is also important in that he embodies how Gerry took advantage of her love for him.

The limitations I encountered where how to describe that some characters are not mentioned often and do not directly interact with the characters or that they are not real in this story, but relate to Annie and Gerry’s relationship. I also wish that I could emphasize how some characters are not central to the story per se, but help describe the characters. Despite these limitations, I think the graph successfully shows how the characters relate to each other.