War can humble even the strongest of men. The novel Fallen Angels is about a small group of men who come of age during the Vietnam War. Richie Perry, the novel's protagonist, joins the army primarily to escape his problems: a bad relationship with his mother, a lack of opportunities in Harlem, and an uncertainty about his future. He finds himself in the middle of a war that is more confusing and traumatic than the life he fled. In this novel Walter Dean Myers uses many types of literary devices to help the reader become familiar with the plot. One of the many types of devices Myers uses is that of characterization. In this novel, characterization is depicted through Perry's actions, words, thoughts, and even his physical appearance. Walter Dean Myers uses many examples of characterization in order to develop character in relation to other elements of the story. Myers uses indirect characterization to paint a mental picture of Richie Perry. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Action and speech can reveal a lot about a person's character. We see this in the novel when Perry is going on his first patrol, for the first ten minutes he had to wipe his right hand on his suit at least a dozen times. He kept imagining that VC would pop up and he wasn't ready to shoot. The fact that he wipes his hand on his suit shows how incredibly apprehensive and nervous he was. After one of Richie's platoon mates was killed, the entire company was in mourning. Richie was approaching one of the men and saw him crying. When she saw him she decided not to talk to him, she turned and left. The reason for this was because Richie didn't want to insult his friend by seeing him cry. This is an example that shows how respectful Richie is. Another way Myers shows Richie's character is through his thoughts. On the plains, on his way to Vietnam, Richie thinks to himself: I usually can't eat when I'm nervous, and going to Vietnam made me nervous. The only reason I was going anyway was because of a paperwork mix-up. This clearly shows how tense and nervous he was. Another example of characterization shown through Richie's thoughts is right after he wrote a letter to Lieutenant Carroll's wife telling her what had happened to her husband. Richie begins to think to himself what his mother would do if she ever received a letter like that about Richie. This shows Richie's concern and love for his mother, even though they don't have a good relationship. It shows that he is very thoughtful and sentimental. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The third way that Richie's character is portrayed is through his physical appearance. While Richie was in combat he began to think to himself that he felt enormous walking among them. He towered over them. He was huge and he was armed to the teeth, and these were not his people. Since his physical appearance was much larger than that of the VC, he felt as if he was much superior to them. Another example of how Richie felt superior to the VC is when he arrived at the company headquarters and the Vietnamese were working behind the counter. He thought they looked quite peaceful and so small. He was six or three years old and many of them seemed a foot shorter than him. In conclusion, in the novel Fallen Angels, Walter Dean Myers uses several examples of characterization in descriptive form to show how the..