Throughout the course of the Year of the Flood, we see how Toby's character developed into a level-headed and capable adult who survived after the flood without water. What is special about Toby's character is the presence of these valuable traits before the pandemic began. Through flashbacks that show his childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, we see elements of the hardened Toby for the first time. At the same time, Toby maintains morale and values ​​humanity even in the face of dystopia. It is this combination of traits that facilitates Toby's survival after the flood and arguably presents her as one of, if not the most, competent people in the wake of the pandemic. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay Toby's childhood was marked by several traumatic events that forced her to take on many responsibilities in order to survive. Early on, we learn that his mother became ill from vitamin supplements provided by the HelthWyzer company. Toby's father spends all of his funds trying to take care of her and after she dies, he commits suicide with the rifle that Toby carries throughout the book. In recounting this part of Toby's life, Atwood writes: “His mother's funeral was short and dreary. After that, Toby sat with her father in the bare kitchen. They drank a six-pack between them, Toby two, his father four. Then, after Toby went to bed, his father walked into the empty garage, put the Ruger in his mouth, and pulled the trigger” (Atwood 27). Toby and his father seem to adopt similar attitudes following a loss. They are both shown to be relatively calm in high stress situations, and in these situations, Toby's father may serve as a sort of example that Toby unconsciously or consciously followed in order to cope. However, Toby and his father's composure is often just that: coping. Behind this determination we see, especially in Toby's father, the extreme controlled emotional agitation. Atwood writes, “He had been a practical, but sentimental man under those power tools in the shed, roses for birthdays” (Atwood 27). This same sentimental nature of Toby's father that we sometimes see in Toby reaches a boiling point when he decides to commit suicide. Toby's response to his father's suicide once again demonstrates a composure that manages to keep him safe in extreme situations, but does not abandon morality. Atwood writes: “She couldn't cope with what was in the garage. She lay in bed, jumping through time. What to do? If she called the authorities - even a doctor or an ambulance - they would find the gunshot wound and demand the gun, and Toby would be in trouble as the daughter of a convicted lawbreaker - an owner of a banned gun. weapon” (Atwood 27). Another person would probably collapse under the stress of losing their mother, then their father, and finally being faced with the aftermath without any support system. Toby maintains her open-mindedness even in this scenario and realizes that she must face her father's death alone. Again, even though Toby does not let the stress of such situations cloud her overall perspective, she still retains her values ​​and a strong identity, a feat that many other characters cannot achieve under the trauma of the waterless flood. Unlike her father, she has the ability to move forward even while enduring such stress. After burying his father's body under the patio stones, Atwood tells us that Toby said a quick prayer. She writes:.