The Elevator by William Sleator

                                     Character Analysis

Martin is the protagonist in the short story ‘The Elevator’ by William Sleator.  In the story Martin and his dad moved to an old apartment building.  Martin was afraid of the old and small elevator in the building and tried to overcome this problem over and over again.  Through a series of descriptions from different aspects, the author characterizes Martin’s personality.

From the author’s descriptions of the emotions and feelings of Martin regarding the elevator , we can see that he is a timid person.  He feels nervous about an elevator, which is really normal for most of the people. The author describes that the elevator is small, old, and ominous. Those characteristics of the elevator enhance Martin’s fear of it. When Martin is the only person in the elevator, he will start trembling and keep worrying about that the elevator will fall. After he takes the elevator once, he even gives up taking it anymore and tries stairs instead of the elevator.

Moreover, the author shows that Martin has low self-esteem by describing his relationship in school and communication with his father. His father always sets a high standard for Martin. When Martin cannot achieve that, he is really disappointed and shows his dissatisfaction with him.  For example, Martin could not overcome the fear of the elevator, his father scolded him for not acting like a man. His father’s discouragements deeply affect Martin and cause him to develop low self-esteem. As a result, in school, he is always bullied by other people. Whenever there is teamwork, he usually is picked last when others choose teams. In this way, the author relates to the reader the connection between his awkward social behaviors to the family relations.

On top of that, the author shows his character of introversion by describing the fat lady.  She always wears a green and rough coat, stands towards Martin in the elevator and her blue eyes always stare at him. Besides that she has small features on her face but a big body size that can fill a whole cubicle.  These physical features of the fat lady perfectly reflect Martin’s characteristics. It feels too intimate for him to be with other passengers in the small elevator. For example, when the fat lady is in the elevator, he squeezes himself into the corner to avoid body contact. He is also afraid of being looked at directly which fat lady always does. However, the story ends at the climax where Martin is most vulnerable with a broken leg just abandoned by his father and alone with the fat lady in the elevator. By doing that, the author leaves the reader in wander of his future. Being with the fat lady in the same elevator has become his nightmare. He always tries to avoid being with her in the elevator at the same time and does not want to see her anymore.