Capture The Flag

Anna is Messner’s primary protagonist in Capture the Flag. While the novel uses third-person point of view, the narrative primarily follows her activities. As the daughter of a senator and a journalist, Anna values honesty and integrity, has a strong sense of right and wrong, and begins the novel already valuing The Development of Civic Responsibility. She most wants to be like her mother, a person who commands attention and gets things done. When Anna is unable to get an interview with Snickerbottom she thinks about her mother and how “nobody ever ignore[s] her questions” (9). Anna’s desire to emulate her mother also extends to her desire to become a full member of the Silver Jaguar Society. The responsibility Anna feels to investigate the flag’s disappearance is rooted in her mother’s example and the importance she places on The Need to Protect Artifacts that Shape Understanding of the Past. Besides her mother, Anna admires other strong women, including one running for president—“secretly, she love[s] the idea of a smart lady who did things differently being in charge” rather than her father’s preferred candidate, Snickerbottom (35).