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Character
When we analyse characters in fiction we need to ask some key questions about:
• their relationship to the plot: do they play a major part in the events of the story or do they have a minor role?
• the degree to which they are developed: are they complex characters or are they one-dimensional?
• their growth in the course of story: do they remain the same throughout the story or do significant changes in their personalities take place?
• techniques of characterisation: HOW does the text inform us about characters?
In order to discuss these issues we need to know the following terms.
The central character of the plot is called the protagonist. Without this character there would be no story. The character against whom the protagonist struggles is called the antagonist. In many novels, however, the antagonist is not a human being. It may, for example, be the natural environment in which the protagonist lives, or society, or illness, or even death. The terms protagonist and antagonist do not have moral connotations and therefore should not be confused with 'hero' and 'villain'. Many protagonists are a mixture of good and evil elements.
Other characters in a story may be referred to as major or minor characters, depending on the importance of their roles in developing the plot.
Minor characters can serve as witnesses, i.e. someone reporting on the events though not directly involved thus achieving something of an objective report. This would be the case for Nick in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, where the protagonists are Gatsby and Daisy, but Nick observes the developments and acts as I-as-witness narrator.
An important function of minor characters is to serve as foil-characters. A foil is a piece of shiny metal put under gemstones to increase their brightness. A foil-character thus provides a contrast to highlight the features of the main character. Maybe the most famous example of a foil character is Watson in the Sherlock Holmes stories, whose ordinary perceptiveness serves to highlight Holmes’ genius. Another example would be the sensible and restrained Elinor and her emotional sister Marianne in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. The sisters serve as a foils for each other.
Another function of a minor character can be that of confidant, i.e. a close friend of the protagonist to whom he or she can confide in and thus disclose his or her innermost thoughts. The housekeeper in Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw for instance functions as confidant for the governess. This way the reader is always confronted with the contrast between the governess’ perceptions and visions and the housekeeper’s slightly helpless and unimaginative common sense.
Round characters, like real people, have complex, multi-dimensional personalities. They show emotional and intellectual depth and are capable of growing and changing. Major characters in fiction are usually round.
Flat characters embody or represent a single characteristic. They are the miser, the bully, the jealous lover, the endless optimist. They may also be referred to as types or as caricatures when distorted for humorous purposes.
Flat characters are usually minor characters. However, the term 'flat' should not be confused with 'insignificant' or 'badly drawn'. A flat character may in fact be the protagonist of the story, in particular when the writer wishes to focus on the characteristic he or she represents. Some highly memorable characters, particularly in satirical or humorous novels, can be defined as flat, for example the miser Scrooge in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.
Allegorical characters might be classed in this category as well (i.e. Hopeful in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress or Despair in Spenser’s The Faerie Queene) since the function of such characters is precisely to represent this one characteristic.
Dynamic characters change as a result of the experiences they have. The most obvious examples can be found in initiation novels which tell stories of young people who grow into adults, for example Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. However, dynamic characters can be found in many other types of stories. Major characters in novels are usually dynamic.
Static characters remain untouched by the events of the story. They do not learn from their experiences and consequently they remain unchanged. Static characters are usually minor characters, but sometimes a writer makes a static character the protagonist of his story, because he wishes to analyse a particular type of personality. Static characters also play major roles in stories that show how forces in life, such as the social environment or the family, sometimes make it hard for people to grow and change. An example can be found in the short story Eveline by James Joyce: the unhappy central character Eveline feels suffocated by her family circumstances and lifestyle but cannot find the strength to break free from her situation and start a new life with her fiance in South America.
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