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Corinne Vieracker
WRA 395
12 October 2011
Reading Stories and the World
I have always been fascinated with stories, mystery, fantasy, romance, historical, and
science fiction. I am consistently engrossed in movies, television shows, and books. The
characters and plotlines fascinate me and take me away to a completely different and new reality.
For me stories have always been alluring, from the time I was three years old and playing with
my Barbie dolls immersed in their fictional lives I created to now being twenty years old reading
novel after novel and eagerly turning on my TV every Thursday for “Grey’s Anatomy.” A
combination of my love for stories and English classes over the years have taught me the
dynamics of a story, such as plotlines and the climax, as well as different character types like the
protagonist and the antagonist, flat and round characters, and major and minor characters.
Furthermore, understanding these different aspects, especially the characters have taught me
ways to recognize or read the symbols, motifs, and themes of several different genres. Through
the character types and the character’s development and interaction I am able to determine
themes and motifs in stories and further anticipate the outcomes of any given story due to
character types and how they relate to the themes and motifs.
Early on I learned that the protagonist in any given story is usually the main character;
this character has an ultimate goal that they take steps to reach throughout the story and the
audience is supposed to root for them. These traits allow me to recognize the protagonist
amongst other characters in any given story. Furthermore, I have also learned that the
protagonist of the story usually represents a major part of the theme. For example, in the Harry
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Potter series of books and movies Harry Potter is the protagonist. He is the main character and
throughout the series he has the ultimate goal of defeating Voldemort and takes several steps to
reach this goal. It may seem obvious to any viewer that Harry Potter is the protagonist, but
recognizing his character further allows me to recognize what his character means to the overall
story. Harry is a symbol of good throughout the stories. This is obvious with his ultimate goal
being to defeat evil. But I can see this by looking at his elevated celebrity-like status in the
wizarding world, as well as innocent and humble background with the Dursley’s. He is also “the
chosen one” which creates this defining protagonist characteristic that sets him apart from the
rest of the characters in the series. By understanding Harry as the protagonist and a symbol of
good, I am able to understand a good versus evil theme throughout the series. Also, by
recognizing the good versus evil theme and seeing that Harry is the protagonist and, thus,
representing the good in the theme, I can anticipate that Harry will not be defeated through
anticipating that good usually triumphs in stories.
I also learned early on that in any given story is there is an opponent for the protagonist
who is the antagonist; this character strives for the opposite goal as the protagonist. I have
learned to recognize the antagonist by a character that is usually seen as the bad guy the easiest.
I can also usually recognize the antagonist by that character being seen as evil. In the case of
Harry Potter, Voldemort or “He Who Must Not be Named” is the antagonist. He is evil and
strives to take over the world while Harry tries to do the opposite and to leave it be. By
recognizing Voldemort as the antagonist I am able to further define the theme of Good versus
Evil throughout the series because I can also recognize Voldemort as a symbol of evil. Besides
his obvious actions of killing and trying to take over, Voldemort’s ruling over his death eaters is
done in an iron-fist manner and similar to that of a dictator. For readers in a democratic society
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this concept is seen as wrong. Having Voldemore, the antagonist, represent evil while Harry, the
protagonist, represents good allows me to automatically see a set up the theme of good versus
evil and good triumphing evil within the characters themselves. Similarly to anticipating Harry’s
triumph, I can anticipate Voldemort’s defeat because he is the antagonist and does represent evil
in the theme of good versus evil.
Later I also learned about another set of character types, flat and round characters; I know
that the flat characters do not change throughout a story and have few qualities, while the round
characters do change and develop throughout the plotline and the audience knows more about
their personality. When I can recognize flat and round characters through the creator’s
presentation of each character, I can also find a theme or motif based on how the characters play
off of each other. For instance, in Harry Potter, a lot of the more flat characters are Voldemort’s
followers, his death eaters. With most of these characters, the audience really only knows their
name or appearance. They are always seen as evil minions of Voldemort and do not change or
develop through the books and movies. However, the round characters such as Ron and
Hermione do change and are more developed. The audience learns more about them, sees them
as more than just the good guys, more like long lost friends. By distinguishing the flat and round
characters and then depicting the differences between them I can further add to the theme of
good versus evil within the series. I am able to see that the evil characters are flat and distant
from the audience, while the good guys are round characters that are well developed and close to
our hearts. This further sets up the theme separating the two sets not only in good and evil but
by what type of characters they are. I can also use these character types to anticipate how each
character will develop throughout a story. For example, knowing more details about Draco
Malfoy’s life makes him more of a round character and allows me to anticipate that his character
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is not fully evil like the rest of Voldemort’s followers and I can expect for him to ultimately run
away from the final battle.
While stories, like Harry Potter, have always fascinated me, learning the different types
of characters and how the play into a simple theme like good versus evil has also fascinated me.
Being an English major and studying and analyzing literature and narratives has and continues to
teach me more and more about stories and how to read them in several formats. I have learned to
transfer my literacy from an academic purpose to a more social or leisure purpose. Now I cannot
simply sit back and watch a TV show or a movie without analyzing each character and
anticipating their development or outcome. This is not necessarily the most useful literacy and
can sometimes be annoying to those around me when I start foreshadowing stories. However,
my ability to read and analyze characters in stories has affected my life over the years in how I
view our culture and world through the stories we tell and how I apply these stories to everyday
life situations. For instance, I can no longer meet new people without analyzing their character
and anticipating their actions and their character type affects the world in which we live. So in a
sense, my literacy in reading stories has made the world around me one giant story for me to
analyze.