ENGL 3820, Literature for the Young Child
Literary Interpretation Exercise on Character
Spring 2012
Characterization refers to the persons, personified animals…or even objects that perform actions
in a text. (When an animal is given human traits, the processes of anthropomorphism and
personification are at work. When an object is given human traits, the process is simply called
personification.)
Character Types
It is common to refer to the principal character in a traditional text as the protagonist, and all
other characters as secondary. For instance, in the Harry Potter series, Harry is the protagonist,
and Ron and Hermione are secondary characters. In a multi-vocal narrative, on the other hand,
the situation can be more complex, as with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, in which
Bridget, Lena, Carmen, and Tibby are the protagonists in their respective sections of the novel,
but become secondary characters in each others’ sections.
If a character undergoes a significant change through the course of the narrative, he/she is said to
be dynamic. If a character remains essentially the same throughout the course of the narrative,
he/she is said to be static. For instance, in Alcott’s Little Women, all of the girls undergo
significant change as they mature, though Jo is the sister who must alter herself the most in order
to conform to society’s norms. We would call her a dynamic character. On the other hand,
Twain’s Tom Sawyer remains pretty much the same throughout his narrative, even as he grows
up; he is a static character.
If a character is shown to possess many traits and personality quirks, that character is called
round. If a character is two-dimensional, at best, and is portrayed as being either good or evil or
friendly or distant, then that character is called flat. Anne Shirley of the Anne of Green Gables
series is a round character because she is shown to be a truly unique person – she quotes
Tennyson, she dyes her hair (and it ends up green), she fights with a boy, and she exhibits
curiosity and bravery. Professor McGonagall from the Harry Potter series is a flat character
because she exhibits a few limited traits (she’s a hard teacher who is on the side of “good”) and
her behavior is predictable. Typically, protagonists are round characters, but that is not always
the case. For instance, scholars continue to debate whether Harry Potter is a flat or a round
character – many readers feel that his behavior is so predictable and limited (he’s the “good” hero
type) that it is impossible to term him a round character. On the other hand, although Professor
Snape is a secondary character, his increasing complexity throughout the narrative has led some
scholars to term him a round character. Noted scholar Maria Nikolajeva has created a helpful
chart that we can use as we think about character types:i
Complexity
Dynamism
Flat
Round
Static
Tom Sawyer or Ron Weasley
or Nancy Drew
Pippi Longstocking or
Charlotte the Spider
Dynamic
Wilbur the Pig or TJ
Anne Shirley or Jo March
Character Exercise for Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie
By studying characters’ behaviors, motivations, and decisions, a reader can begin to gain insight
into a work of fiction. Please fill out the chart below.
Character Name
Key behaviors
Key motivation(s)
– what does the
character want?
Major decisions &
what those reflect
Important
page #s
Charles Ingalls
Caroline Ingalls
Mary Ingalls
Laura Ingalls
Mr. Edwards
i
Maria Nikolajeva. Aesthetic Approaches to Children’s Literature: An Introduction. (Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.,
2005), 160.