Empire of the Sun - Character progression of Jim

Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard

In this essay I intend to show the change of a character throughout this novel. The character I have chosen is Jim. I have chosen Jim because Jim is the main character and he goes through the most noticeable and interesting changes.

One of the changes is in his emotions. In the beginning of the book he is quite happy and does not see the ‘big picture’. Because he is happy and is so used to that, he does not think about being in a situation where he does not have all the comforts he has now. This all deteriorates as we move through the book. His behaviour in the beginning of the book is one of a spoilt brat. For example to his carer, Vera, he says after she asks for him to take his toy plane instead of a BB gun, (page 7) “Amah, don’t touch it! I’ll kill you!” When his parents leave and all his means to survive in the house start to disappear this triggers new behaviour. His vivid imagination takes hold of him and it makes him think of ...