Character Analysis of the Protagonist and Sergio in "The Secret Lion" Harper Beard College

The main character of Alberto Alvaro Rios’ The Secret Lion is not a huge fan of change, however inevitable it is. He and his best friend, Sergio, are quite content having one teacher who cares for them and the same friends year after year. Unfortunately for them, junior high is extremely different from the simplicity of elementary school. The changes that occur in the main character and Sergio’s lives develop into personal growth and deep insight for both of them, but specifically the main character. The discovery and subsequent loosing of the grinding ball, the encounter at the golf course over the mountains, and the truth of the “secret lion” lead the narrator to the realization that change and growing up is difficult and unavoidable.

A grinding ball is a part of a ball mill, which is used to blend and grind materials to be used in things such as paint and ceramics. The main character narrates a time when he and Sergio find one of these, saying “One Thursday we were walking along shouting this way, and the railroad, the Southern Pacific, which ran above and along the far side of the arroyo, had dropped a grinding ball down there…” (Rios 181). This ball is an object of wonder to the innocent boys, who play with it and hold it...