Characterization Prepared by Ms. Teref

(Adapted from pp.170-177)

How do we learn about a character?

Authors portray characters through the following:

1. actions: e.g. Sula

2. speech: e.g.Sula, Eva, Helene, Larry (31-32), Elliot Templeton (page 22)

3. description: e.g. Sula (the rose above her eye, her outfit after she returns) Isabelle and Larry

4. the objective narrator’s comments : e.g. Narrator in Sula, Somerset Maugham in the Razor’s Edge

We rely on four basic methods to determine characterization:

1. What the author tells us about the character

2. What the character tells us about him or herself

3. What the character does

4. What other characters tell us about the character

Rank of each of these as reliable (R) or unreliable (U)

_____What the author tells us about the character

_____ What the character tells us about him or herself

_____ What the character does

_____ What other characters tell us about the character

 

And the answer is…

Actions and the objective narrator’s comments tend to be more accurate than a character’s self-assessment.

Why?

A character may be dishonest or deluded; likewise, other characters may bring their own personal feelings to their judgments.

A character’s dress, speech patterns, may be thought of BOTH as actions or as the narrator’s comment.

Exercise:

Consider a character from a novel or story you have read, e.g. Sula or Larry Darrell. (For Razor’s Edge, do not confuse the character with the author, especially if the story is told in the first person.

Discuss Sula’s character using the 4 basic methods of characterization.

 

Types of Characters:

Attitudes, beliefs change DYNAMIC e.g. Nel (her epiphany at the end), Sula (she falls in love)

Full, lifelike personality ROUND, a well-rounded person, character e.g. Eva Peace

The main character who’s unambiguously good HERO or HEROINE

A more general term for “hero” PROTAGONIST

The protagonist’s enemy ANTAGONIST

Your example?_______________ Why?__________________

Types of Characters:

A character defined by a predominant trait FLAT e.g. Shadrack – “the crazy character”

A character that doesn’t change STATIC e.g. Shadrack is as crazy at the beginning as he is at the end; Eva Peace is a round character (we have many details about her life and personality) but her attitude and personality don’t change b/c she’s determined to keep the family going at the beginning and at the end (lost her leg, dug turds out Plum’s bottom, wants Sula to procreate).

Your example?_______________ Why?__________________

Types of Characters: STOCK CHARACTER doesn’t change

Flat characters BUT lively and engaging ALTHOUGH little development;

Representative of their class/group: the evil stepmother, the greedy politician

When flat and exhibiting ONLY the conventional traits and possess NO individuality STEREOTYPE

When exhibiting ONLY one trait, e.g. nearsightedness, miserliness CARICATURE

Types of Characters: THE FOIL

A character that complements or offsets a protagonist’s traits; highlights a protagonist’s traits, sometimes like a “sidekick,” if comedic e.g . Nel is a foil to Sula re: sexuality

E.g. the character of Dr. Watson in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. Watson is a perfect foil for Holmes because his relative obtuseness makes Holmes’s deductions seem more brilliant.

A foil’s role may be emphasized by physical contrasts. For example in Cervantes' Don Quixote, the dreamy, well spoken, and impractical Quixote is thin in contrast to his companion, the realistic, uneducated, and practical Sancho Panza, who is fat.

Verisimilitude (probability or plausibility)

Veri –ver = veritas = truth (cf. verify)

simil = similar to

“Characters in fiction should be true to life,” i.e. they should speak, act, and exhibit characteristics of real people.