Personal Growth

Personal growth is the overarching and dominant theme in the novel Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson. The protagonist, Kate Malone, and the antagonist, Teri Litch, both grow and develop over the course of the novel in various ways and for various reasons.

At the beginning of the novel, eighteen year-old Kate is slightly arrogant and somewhat self-centered. Though she helps out at home out of a mix of kindness and obligation, she is focused solely on one thing: getting into MIT. Nothing else matters to such a degree that she hasn't even bothered applying to any other schools. She knows what she wants, and she will stop at nothing to get it. In so doing, she has secured amazing grades and won science competitions, and concentrates on schoolwork and track as well as maintaining her home routine of chores and laundry. Yet Kate's world is shattered by...