E Cummings once said, "To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." Madison is a thirteen year old girl who has passed away and is now spending an eternity in hell. She is in a constant battle with herself and her mind, but is trying to discover herself as someone new through the flames of hell. She struggles with insecurity, constant lying, and neglect. Before death, she had lived a lavished life. Though, lavished with materialistic items not with love. Her parents were famous and tried their hardest to not publicize their overweight, unappealing daughter, which led to her insecurity and low self-esteem. In addition to that, she also had no real friends and was considered an outcast. Throughout the book Damned, Madison Spencer's character develops from a know-it-all, a hopeful person, to truly finding who she really is with the help of her new friends in the afterlife. .
In the beginning of the book, Madison already comes off as a know-it-all. She says right off the bat, "I'm dead. Not a mental defective" (1). And once every other chapter she repeatedly says how although she may be dead, she is not stupid. Madison insists that she is smarter than your average thirteen year old because she does not have the looks she believes that she only has brains. Even before her "overdose" of marijuana, she was always a know-it-all. She would always make sarcastic remarks about everything. Especially towards her mother and her ego. Her being so caused her to not have as many friends. In hell, Madison finds herself becoming friends with a girl named Babette and she believes she is far smarter than her. She quickly judges Babette by her looks, especially her fake designer items. Because Babette is a beautiful girl, Madison believes she does not have the brains which is why she believes she is smarter than her.
