Loose Change - Characterization of Laylor

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a lot of loose change without questioning the narrator for what she needs it for (p.11, 1.26/ p.12, II. 1f.). Even though she just fled from Uzbekistan three days ago (p.16, 1.6) and sleeps on the square of London (p.15, 1.12), she still does not hesitate to be trusting and selfless. She doesn't even expect anything in return, since she simply leaves the lavatory (p.12, 1.15). This observation of her being selfless is supported by her posing the question of the sugar being free since she thinks that her tea is too bitter (p.14, 1.15). She is indecisive when it comes to spending money on her own needs compared to doing it for those of a stranger. Considering her and her brother's precarious living situation, she still acts in a communicative and optimistic manner. She doesn't hesitate to tell the narrator how she has gotten into this situation (p.16, II.1f.). She provides her with personal details while the narrator does not react or respond to any of her statements (p.16 1.18, II.22 f., 1.29). She does pick up on the narrator not being engaged in the conversation and she asks the narrator if everything is okay (p.17, 1.17). This shows that she at least somewhat cares about the narrator and tries to actively involve her in a conversation. Her vivid and cheerful mindset becomes apparent when she emotionally engages in looking at the portrait of Darcy Brussel and describing it as ,,a dream" (p.12, II.16f.). She walks around with the narrator and discusses different art pieces with her passionately, which shows her intellectual and cultural interests. When looking at an art piece by A.S. Beckham, she doesn't hide the fact that she is not too fond of it and expresses this stance in a humorous and unbothered manner (p.13, II.9f.). Those aspects mentioned could be interpreted as her being an optimistic, unbothered and strong person. One might argue that this behavior could relate to her repressing her true emotions and therefore acting rather childish or naive. After talking about her situation rather indifferently, emotions of sadness and despair are revealed when she cries telling the narrator about her last days with her family in her hometown (p. 17, II. 22f. – p. 18, II. 1f.). In contrast to how she has been acting before, this suggests that there is a very vulnerable and emotionally agitated side to Laylor. Looking at her overall behavior, you could say that she does not necessarily act in fine or good manners. Other than her speaking loudly and possibly bothering other visitors of the museum (p. 13, II.11-12/ p. 15, II.5f.), she puts the spilled sugar along with some dirt back in her tea (p.14, II.20-23) and wipes her nose with the sleeve of her jacket (p.18, II.17f.). This could be explained by the cultural differences that she is not able to adapt to and the presumption of Laylor being rather young and therefore not fully aware or simply not caring about social manners or behavior. In the larger sense, you could say that Laylor can be characterized as a cheerful, passionate, unbothered, generous, and communicative person. But looking into the progression of emotional disclosure, she turns out to be worried, vulnerable, and therefore a round character in the sense of sentiment development. Since she is described by the first person and subjective perspective of the narrator, she remains rather enigmatic and unpredictable.