A. Eva Benitez (April Lee Hernandez) - Ever since an early age, Eva’s family, primarily her father had raised her with the ideal that she must learn to stand up and fight for herself. She is a Latina girl who is growing up in a lower-class neighborhood with constant gang violence. She develops a hate for white people after having witnessed her father be addressed by white police officers for something which she knew he was innocent of. As she entered her teenage years, she decided to become initiated into the gang life as a form of survival in her neighborhood. It was a decision made as a form of survival, belonging to a gang meant someone was watching out for you. She is one of the first characters to be introduced in the movie and sets…show more content… She gives an introduction the school student body break down as; little Cambodia (Asians), the ghetto (Blacks), wonder bread land (Whites), and south of the border (Hispanics). Earlier in the school semester, Eva becomes the only witness to the killing of a young man while out one evening. One of Eva’s Latino friends decided to shoot at a black teenager who crossed into their territory, having missed he shot and killed an innocent Asian teenager. She was told “you can’t go against your own people, your own blood. Therefore, Eva lied and identified the black teenager as the shooter in order to protect “her family”. However, throughout the story, Eva hesitantly begins to open up to and learn from Ms. Gruwell. She begins to develop relationships with students of different backgrounds, eventually Ms. Gruwell’s class became a safe-haven for all the students and allowed them to bond. The moment Eva changed was when Meip Gies said “I simply did what I needed to do, because it was the right thing to do”. That phrase particularly struck Eva because of her current situation. Through Eva’s relationships built and new found morals, she admits to the true events of the night the Asian teenager was…show more content… Marcus’s (Jason Finn) character was initially a silent observant student in the back of Ms. Gruwell’s class. When he finally did speak up, he was defensive and disrespectful. He did not like school nor want to be there. He even make racial remarks at Ms. Gruwell along with other students. He is well aware of the struggles he has to face each day and relays that to Ms. Gruwell when he said “Lady I’m lucky if I make it to 18, we in a war”. At this point, Marcus does not even see a positive future for himself, let alone possibly graduating. His character had grown up in a life of gangs and crime. During the first writing assignment, Marcus opens up about a childhood event that marked the beginning of his life of crime and being in and out of jail. He was a homeless student, after his mother kicked him out for being gang-related. Slowly over the course of the school year, Marcus’ character begins to transform as he finally has a positive influence in his life. The first time you see this is after the trip to the museum of tolerance. He climbs into a hideaway in an old building and opens a book to read. He takes interest in the book Anne Frank, more so Meip Gies, the women who hid Anne Frank. While talking with Ms. Gruwell and Eva, Marcus slips and says that he even signed out a bunch of books about Meip Gies. This was surprising that he even went to the library. Through his readings, he found a hero, someone to look up to. By the end of the film, Marcus full on