War can humble even the strongest of men. The novel Fallen Angels is about a small group of men who came of age during the Vietnam War. Richie Perry, the novel's protagonist, enlists in the military primarily to escape his problems: a poor relationship with his mother, lack of opportunities in Harlem, and uncertainty about his future. He finds himself in the middle of a war more confusing and traumatic than the life he fled. In this novel, Walter Dean Myers uses many types of literary devices in order 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 action and speech, his thoughts, and even his physical appearance. Walter Dean Myers uses many examples of characterization in an attempt to develop the character in relation to the other elements of the story. Myers uses indirect characterization in order to paint a mental picture of Richie Perry. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original EssayAction and speech can reveal a lot about a person's character. We see this in the novel when Perry leaves for his first patrol, during the first ten minutes he had to wipe his right hand on his fatigues at least a dozen times. He kept imagining VC popping up and he wasn't ready to shoot. Him wiping his hand on his fatigues shows how incredibly worried and nervous he was. After the death of one of Richie's platoon colleagues, the entire company was in mourning. Richie walked towards one of the men and saw him crying. When he saw this, he decided not to talk to her, turned around and walked away. The reason was that Richie didn't want to insult his friend by seeing him cry. This is an example of how respectful Richie is. Myers also shows Richie's character through his thoughts. On the plains, on the way to Vietnam, Richie thinks that I usually can't eat when I'm nervous, and going to Nam made me nervous. The only reason I was going anyway was because of a paperwork problem. This clearly shows how tense and nervous he was. Another example of characterization shown through Richie's thoughts is right after he writes a letter to Lt. Carroll's wife telling her about what happened to her husband. Richie begins to think about 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. This shows that he is very caring and sentimental. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay The third way Richie's character is portrayed is through his physical appearance. While Richie was in combat, he began to think that he felt enormous walking among them. He dominated them. He was huge and armed to the teeth, and they weren't his people. By his physical appearance being much larger than that of the VC, he felt as if he was vastly superior to them. Another example of how Richie felt superior to the VC was when he arrived at the company's headquarters and there were Vietnamese people working behind the counter. He thought they looked quite peaceful and so small. He was six meters three, and many of them seemed a good foot shorter than him. In conclusion, in the novel Fallen Angels, Walter Dean Myers..