4.3 Character Placemat #1
Character Name
Harold Crick
Check one:
· Protagonist
· Supports Protagonist
· Opposes Protagonist
Appearance and Behavior
Include key quotations and identify the speaker. Include lines said by or about this character.
In the beginning Harold Crick is a monotonous late 30-year-old man. He is around 6’ft tall and has a medium build. He works at the IRS agency where he has lived the same routine for the past 12 years. He dressed in knitted sweaters and suits on a daily basis and never steered away from that, other than the wristwatch he owned. He lived a very confined lifestyle and kept to a dull routine every day. One can presume he is OCD due this exact routine such as brushing his teeth a certain may times per day, tying his tie certain way to save time and improve efficiency as well as he lives his life off of a very strict timing schedule.
After hearing an omniscient voice inside of his head (who we later find out is author Karen Eiffel) he goes to seek help. He was told he had schizophrenia, but due to the realistic narrative and proper grammar the voice was using, Harold knew it was something else. He then met with an English professor (Professor. Jules Hilbert) who told him to meet with the author and go on living his life to the best of his abilities, after he heard the voice say “little did he know that this simple, seemingly innocuous act would lead to his imminent death”. Professor told him to figure out if he was in a comedy or a tragedy….. he quickly learnt due to the nature of events which had happened in a row he was indeed involved in a tragedy. After this quote, Harold had made changes in his everyday life and leaded away from his everyday routine. He had fallen for one of his clients which the old Harold would have not let happen due to strict rules, but once he found out he was going to die, he allowed himself to break the rules.
“Harold Crick was a man of infinite numbers, endless calculations and remarkably few words. And his wristwatch said even les. Every weekday for 12 years Harold would brush each of his 32 teeth 72 times. 38 times back and forth, 38 times up and down. Every weekday for 12 years Harold would tie his tie in a single Windsor knot instead of the double there by saving up to 43 seconds” This is spoken by the narrator of his life Karen Eiffel whom also was writing a novel unknowingly based on Harold’s life.
Harold Crick: “Professor Hilbert, I'm an IRS agent. Everyone hates me.”
This quote shows how Harold views himself in society, he has adapted to his “norms” and knows how people react to seeing him even out of the work place.
"Ana Pascal: just go home Harold
Harold Crick: “Okay…… Did- You made those cookies for me, didn't you? You were just trying to be nice, and I blew it. This may sound like gibberish to you, but I think I'm in a tragedy. ”this quote establishes the genre of the book he is in and allows him to realize he might not have long to live.
In which setting does t...
