Understanding Characterization in Literature

1. CharacterizationPrepared by Ms. Teref (Adapted from pp.170-177)

2. How do we learn about a character? • Authors portray characters through the following: • actions: e.g. Sula • speech: e.g.Sula, Eva, Helene, Larry (31-32), Elliot Templeton (page 22) • description: e.g. Sula (the rose above her eye, her outfit after she returns) Isabelle and Larry • the objective narrator’s comments : e.g. Narrator in Sula, Somerset Maugham in the Razor’s Edge

3. We rely on four basic methods to determine characterization: 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 • 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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?__________________

7. 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?__________________

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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.