Author's Note: This piece is written to inform you on why Mickey Bolitar of Shelter by Harlan Coben is a static character. Also, it is written to improve my score in Character Development.
Around the beginning of second semester, I finished a book called Shelter by Harlan Coben. This was actually one of the few books I have read that has a static main character. Other books like The Hunger Games or The Outsiders have dynamic characters. The main character Mickey Bolitar decides to uncover a mystery with the help of some new friends miraculously without changing his personality.
All in one year, Mickey Bolitar witnessed his father's death in a car crash, sent his mom into rehab, and changed high schools. His parents were injured in a car crash on the way to one of Mickey's basketball games. Since he cannot live on his own yet, he has to move in to his uncle Myron's house. Mickey starts out as a confident adolescent with a new girlfriend, Ashley, that unexpectedly goes missing early in the book. She leaves not trace or warning of where she went but Mickey's main goal in the book is to find her. At his school, he meets two very important people that will make a huge impact later in the book. Their names are Spoon (his real name is not mentioned) and Ema. Both of them don't have many friends (if any) and they stand out even though they try not to.
Moving on, there is a creepy person in lots of stories these days and they usually talk nonsense but it always ties right into the solution of the story. That character appears to Mickey in her old, abandoned-looking house in the start of the book and really phases him. She tells him that his father is still alive and even though that really shook him up, he still stays the same person. He later ties Ema and Spoon into the whole situation of bat Lady and Ashley; Spoon is the brains and Ema is the confidence. Mickey is basically the "boss" of the mission and he manages to stay cool all through school, mysteries, and adapting to a new life with Myron.
Furthermore, Mickey goes through many events such as a nightclub scandal and a stalker that works for bat lady. This book is packed with mystery and action so you will just want to keep reading. This is one thing that would make it hard not to evolve into a different character inside because people are always changing and it would be hard to just stop that. For example, breaking into bat lady's home would make him braver, and getting involved with the tempered owner of the nightclub would make him tougher than before.
Finally, Mickey does solve both mysteries of his girlfriend and father but he couldn't have done it if he had changed his personality to something like wimpy, or narcissistic. If, on the other hand, he did change he would not have been able to make it through the events nearing the end of the book. Unlike most books Mickey is a static character and even though he doesn't have many friends, he is happy with what he's got.
