Jane Smiley uses the changing personalities and attitudes of the characters in A Thousand Acres to demonstrate the major effect that the breakup of a family can have on people. Many characters change throughout the novel, with some becoming more insular and others becoming more outspoken. One of the main people to change in the novel is Ginny. However, she still has one major factor that remains throughout the novel: she worries about people. In chapter 28, when she sees her father for the first time after his stay with Harold, she says that the sight of him "surprised" her. So she immediately says to Rose “look at him”. This shows that she always cares for people and shows mercy. This is consistent throughout the novel as she always made breakfast for Larry and worried when he got into a car accident. The first part of the chapter focuses on Ginny's description of Larry's disheveled look and she describes not only his clothes and hair, but also his "behavior". This shows that she is watching him very closely and suggests that she still worries after everything that has been said. In this chapter, Ginny always worries about what others think of her and her family, when Harold and Larry talk to others. to people she said "I wanted to hear what he said..." She said this as if she was worried about what he might say about her and stood up and the feeling of shame is always on her. This is a continuation of the behavior she showed earlier in the novel when she worried about what people would think of the family after Caroline's performance in the play as a young girl, " whispered in horror at the humiliation to come. Ginny is still quite loyal to Larry because she doesn't want to seem like she's plotting against him when she... middle of paper ...... y and ignores him. “I took two more steps, but he clearly backed away.” Ginny describes Larry's voice as "tentative", which is completely different from what it was as he used to have an "aggressive growl". This demonstrates his fragility and senility. Larry demonstrates his need to hold on to someone throughout the novel, first with Rose and Ginny, then with Harold and Caroline. This suggests that beneath his gruff exterior, he is in fact alone. This chapter leads you to believe that Larry hasn't actually lost his mind but that it's a ploy to gain sympathy, right at the end when Rose and Ginny are running out of time. “a look of sly righteousness spreads over his face.” This doesn't describe a man who is losing his mind and doesn't know where he is, but rather someone who planned a scene knowing the effect it would have on his daughters..