Characterization
"You must look into people, as well as at them," wrote Lord Chesterfield.
In stories, characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are brought
to life by an author's use of dialogue, physical appearance, action, and thought. Often, the nature
of a character is also revealed through the reactions of other characters to him or her.
Types of Character
To be believable, a character must be relevant to all people throughout the ages.
There are two basic types of character:
Flat Characters:
These are characters portray one dominant trait. These characters tend to remain
the same; they are static and do not grow as the story progresses. Often, flat
characters are used to portray the minor characters in a story. Examples of one
dimensional characters are: Simon in Golding's Lord of the Flies or even Kramer
in the TV sitcom Seinfeld.
Round Characters:
These characters portray more than one trait. Therefore, they are complex, fully
rounded personalities. As such, they are able to grow and change as the story
unfolds. Round characters can mature, they can develop new insights as they
begin to experience the incidents in the story. The round character is usually best
suited to portray a major character. Examples of these characters are Ralph in
Lord of the Flies, Hamlet, Pi Patel in Martel's Life of Pi, and any other main
character that grows and changes in the course of a narrative.
The Process of Characterization:
Characterization is the process of presenting the different aspects of character and personality of
someone in a novel or short story or any other narrative depiction of human beings. A good
writer rather than depending entirely on long and tedious descriptive passages, slowly reveals
character by using the process outlined below.
Characters are created by:
What they say (dialogue),
What they do (actions),
What they think (interior monologue),
What they have and wear,
Where they are,
The people with whom they associate,
What others say about them, and
The author's direct statement.
Review the example below where author Timothy Findley describes his character,
Freda Manley, having lunch in a restaurant.
Excerpt from Headhunter
When Warren walked in out of the rain that Monday afternoon to join Ethel
Beeman and Leslie Drew, the first person he saw was his mother.
Freda was seated at the centre table in the cockpit. She was more alive than
Warren had seen her in years. Her Palm Beach tan was a rich shade of bronze. Her
teeth, which one could count from across the room, were blinding white. A person
could not begin to tell she was about to be a widow for the second time in her life.
Her voice rang out. Her perfume dominated the air. And there beside her was
Gordon Perry -- siitting in all her lights. The shape of his face was deceiving. His
brutal eyes were made to seem benign by the roundness of his features. His
hands, Warren noted, were empty - as always. Gordon Perry needed no props to
emphasize his importance.
Every eye in the room was on Freda Manley. In spite of the season, she was, as
usual, wearing her sable coat and had cast it off in such a way that its skirts made
a pool of fur behind and to the sides of her chair. She ate with gusto and panache
- cracking molluscs and biting through their flesh as if they were her enemies. Her
hands, all through the meal, made waving motions over the table as various
dishes were delivered to be refused or accepted. When she wanted more wine she
thrust out her glass at the maitre-d' with a jangle of silver bracelets that could be
heard twenty feet away. Her eyes rarely left her food until she was finished
feeding.
The poor waiters - three of them - tried to avoid walking on her coat every time
they approached her, and as a consequence, the food they proffered on spoons
and in ladles sometimes landed on the tablecloth. Finally, exasperated, Freda pointing down at her coat - was heard to say to one of the waiters, "Walk on it!
Walk on it! What do you think it's for!"
Warren cringed, felt his fiancée's eyes turn towards him - and took advantage of
the menu.
Findley, T. Headhunter. Toronto: Harper Collins, 1993.
Now, following the examples of Headhunter, Madame Bovary and The Underpainter,
create a character in the process of doing something practical.
Consider these actions: Brushing your teeth, vacuuming the house, washing the car,
organising a party.
Focus on showing the characters emotions, motivations and feelings rather than telling!
Some of you may have found it difficult to separate the character description from your
setting description. You should remember that the setting and atmosphere can
sometimes be more influential in a text that many characters and those characters can
be developed with allusions to atmosphere and descriptive setting.
Describing character does not always have to be as the narrator sees it. The narrator
has four other senses!! In your journal description, try to create a rich and vibrant
description that brings your character to life.
Journal task:
Create a rich and vivid description of about 250-300 words on one of the following:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
A mother-figure
An individual who is afraid
A warrior faced with battle
A child choosing a new pet
Please identify your chosen author for ISU 1.
ISU one is a jackdaw project. This means that you need to research an author who has
had an impact on you and/or society. Your presentation should last approximately 20
mins and you should use a collection of ‘items’ that are creative and imaginative to bring
your authors’ impact to life. The jackdaw reference implies a ‘stolen collection’ of
artefacts, much as a jackdaw steals shiny and attractive items for its nest.