Character

1. 5 Character Literature: Craft & Voice Nicholas Delbanco and Alan Cheuse

2. “I think the character is absolutely the font of all fiction. I think that’s where the conflict comes from and I think it’s where the plot comes from: that’s where the story comes from. And so when I feel that something is not going well, that it doesn’t have its own drive, I don’t look at the incidents to try to understand what’s going wrong. I look at the character, and in particular I look at the character’s ambivalence.” ─ Gish Jen

3. Characters • Characters – The people who inhabit literary works. • Characters capture and hold our attention as they suffer, rejoice, rebel, and sometimes perish within the world of the story. It’s the sleeping passenger who makes us care whether her train runs off the tracks and plunges into a ravine; it’s the child in the upstairs bedroom who makes us hope the firefighters reach his burning house in time. Theirs are the faces we see, the voices we hear, the decisions we sympathize with or marvel at, and the fates we come to share and care about while we read.

4. Characterization • Characterization – The way a writer crafts and defines personality, giving us an insight into thoughts and actions that real life rarely permits. • We may seek out a story for its plot, admire its setting, and delight in the beauty of its language – but most of us keep turning the page to find out what happens to the characters an author has conjured into life.

5. Protagonist & Antagonist • Protagonist: The main character. • We will most enjoy a work when we come to know and care about the protagonist and whether or not he or she reaches his or her objective. • Antagonist: The force that stands in the way of the protagonist and his objective. • Could be another character, a political system, an element in nature, or the protagonist himself or herself.

6. Relationship to Plot The tension or suspense in fiction results when the protagonist and antagonist are evenly matched and their conflict or struggle intense. As when watching a sporting event, we tend to be most interested when the match is competitive and the end in doubt. The climax is the point in the story when we discover whether the protagonist reaches his or her objective. The part of the story that follows the climax and brings the work to its conclusion is called the resolution, in which the author will provide us with necessary concluding information.

7. Round and Flat CharactersA helpful terminology developed by E. M. Forster • Round Character – A round character with complex, multifaceted characteristics. Round characters behave as real people. They are dynamic and capable of growing and changing. • Flat Character – A character who contrasts with the central character, often with the purpose of emphasizing some trait in the central character. Flat characters are static, meaning they are unchanging. Roundness and flatness can be a matter of degree, with characters in a story falling along a spectrum.

8. Defining Character • We evaluate people by observing physical details, dress, language, actions, interactions with others, motivations, and other details dependent on circumstances and setting. After our observations, we draw inferences, which are either confirmed, deepened, or revised as we come to know the person. We can use this same process to evaluate fictional characters. • In fiction, the author provides clues to a character’s personality through intentionally revealing details – a name, clothing, hair color. • In fiction, we are often able to look inside the character’s head and see innermost secrets and thoughts. We can often be more certain of a character’s motivation.

9. “Who’s Irish?” Gish Jen’s “Who’s Irish?” is told from the perspective of a grandmother, a Chinese immigrant to the United States. The central conflict in the story results from the narrator’s spanking of her granddaughter. Sophie is three years old American age, but already I see her nice Chinese side swallowed up by her wild Shea side…

10. Character in “Who’s Irish?” The grandmother reveals much about herself just in the way that she relates her story. • She writes in short abrupt sentences and often broken English. • This language reflects the grandmother’s comfort level with English, but also her level of open-mindedness. She is hard sounding, full of literal detail as opposed to contemplation or speculation. • The grandmother’s narration reflects a proud, defiant, and pragmatic individual, who can be humorous, intentionally and unintentionally.

11. Grandmother as Round Character • The grandmother can be insensitive and is hardly worried about political correctness. • The grandmother has persevered through a difficult life with seemingly few compromises. She will not compromise herself or her principles with her daughter and her family. • The grandmother can be witty and clever, and she is especially proud of her fierceness. She backs away from no one – not even gang members when she operated a restaurant – and is certainly not going to yield ground to her granddaughter. • The grandmother’s Chinese methods and principles of child-rearing contrast with those she encounters in America. She has difficulty understanding why her daughter raises her granddaughter as she does. What was fine for her, she believes, should be fine for her daughter.

12. Grandmother as Round Character • Although the grandmother may be stubborn, proud, and traditional, she becomes more open-minded and accepting by the end of the story. By accepting the designation of being “honorary Irish,” the grandmother demonstrates a new comfort level with others and a contentment that eluded her while she lived with her daughter. • Previously, the grandmother would have found the designation insulting. Now she delights in it, which reflects her acceptance of that which is different, including not just the O’Sheas but her granddaughter with whom her relationship begins to prosper.

13. Flat Characters • The grandmother is the only round character in “Who’s Irish?” The story centers on her and we see other characters in relation to her and how she is affected by them or they are affected by her. • Consider the narrator’s effect on her daughter’s marriage. • Natalie’s marriage is already strained because of economic and child-rearing pressures, complicated by John’s difficulty in holding a job. • Rather than ease the tension, the grandmother contributes to it through her stubbornness and criticism. • She considers her son-in-law “plain boiled” and has little tolerance for his “depression” and the concept that she must be “supportive.” • She does not share her daughter’s principles of child-rearing.

14. “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” In this story by Katherine Anne Porter, we see Granny Weatherall in the final hours of her life as she lays dying in the home of her daughter Cornelia. She lay and drowsed, hoping in her sleep that the children would keep out and let her rest a minute. It had been a long day. Not that she was tired. It was always pleasant to snatch a minute now and then. There was always so much to be done, let me see: tomorrow….

15. Character • Granny’s name, Weatherall, suggests that she has had to endure or weather a great deal: • the birth of five children • early widowhood • strenuous physical labor • “milk-leg and double pneumonia” • the death of a child, an earlier close call with death • unrequited love and a jilting.

16. Character • Granny prides herself on her self-reliance and on having survived as an independent woman. • For this reason, she seems to resent her current dependence on Cornelia: “She was always being tactful and kind… good and dutiful … I’d like to spank her.” Through her attentiveness, Cornelia reminds Granny that she is “old,” whereas Lydia and Jimmy, says Granny, still seek her advice.

17. Granny’s Point of View • Porter allows the reader to see only into Granny’s mind. Granny’s illness and medication induce altered states of consciousness, including hallucinations and distortions. As a result she blurs the distinction between past and present and confuses her location. • Porter uses a stream-of-consciousness technique to record the thoughts, memories, emotions, and judgments as they enter Granny’s consciousness. By entering Granny’s mind so thoroughly and seemingly without edit, Porter creates a powerful portrait of a dying woman. By the end of the story, the reader comes to know Granny very well.

18. Questions to Consider • The jilting is the central fact of her life. How has Granny’s jilting shaped her character and the rest of her life? How well has she weathered the jilting? • Granny’s life and character were forever changed by the jilting. In what ways does she remain better? Has she ever fully gotten over her disappointment? • Although Granny had a good marriage with John and she grew to love him, she felt as if something were missing from her relationship, something George took from her. What is it that she lost because of her “jilting”? On her deathbed, Granny is anxious to see George. It is unlikely if Granny ever forgot him. More likely, Granny to see how she has survived and prospered, and realize that the loss was really his. It’s a form of revenge.

19. Is Granny a Round Character? • In the story, Granny considers how she had once prepared for death only to survive. She then determined never to prepare again. As death approaches, Granny says, “I’m taken by surprise,” and blows out the candle, representing life, and descends into the darkness of death. • In death, Granny is jilted a second time, but now by Christ in the image of a bridegroom. The likely reason is that Granny has not forgiven George, and thus is not spiritually prepared for the kingdom of heaven. Granny has not sufficiently changed. • It might be illuminating to read Matthew 25: 1-13, the parable about the ten bridesmaids who went out to meet the bridegroom.

20. Character in “Paul’s Case” Willa Cather originally entitled this story “A Study in Temperament.” The revised title, “Paul’s Case,” suggests a a psychological case study or perhaps a legal case, i.e., as an argument or a defense for Paul’s theft and suicide. However, both the working and final titles make clear that Cather was conducing a character study. Although these titles both suggest objectivity, Cather sympathizes with Paul, which becomes clear when we see Paul’s teachers and the “burghers” of Cordelia Street. Is Paul a victim of his environment? Paul’s objective is to live a life of beauty. He wants to be surrounded by beauty, color, and elegance. His concept of beauty, however, is simplistic, superficial, and sensual. Colors, aromas, music, fine foods, and wines are important to him and bring forth an immediate response. He is not interested in artistic depth or the creative process.

21. Paul’s character continued … Cather organizes the story spatially as well as chronologically. Paul’s character unfolds as we watch him in different locations. We watch his actions and mannerisms in various locations: at school, in the art gallery, in the ushers’ dressing room, working in the theater, on the street, at home, on Cordelia Street on Sunday, on a train to New York, in stores in New York, in his hotel room, and others. In school, for instance, Paul seems defiant and proud, rude and flippant, but we also see his discomfort and lack of confidence in his twitching lips and trembling fingers.… In the art gallery, he is exhilarated, comfortable and relaxed, as he loses himself in his consideration of the art work.… On the street, following his night at work, Paul imagines himself entering a magical world of the singer, loses himself in his imagination, and feels doomed to living such a magical life only in his imagination.… On Cordelia Street on Sunday, Paul is uninvolved in his neighborhood’s activities, alienated from his surroundings and those nearest him, and contrasts with the other young men his age – those whom his father wishes he would emulate.

22. Authors will often reveal character through symbol and imagery. Consider how Cather uses the following images and symbols to reveal Paul’s character. Water – Consider how Paul responds to the waters of Pittsburgh, including the “tepid waters of Cordelia Street,” the waters closing over him, the “weight of black water” that he feels, and the rain that falls on Paul after the concert. One night Paul had a “hopeless feeling of sinking back forever into ugliness and commonness.” Contrast these images with his use of “violet waters from the bottle,” his escape on a ferry, the snow, and the reference to the Adriatic Sea – images of cleansing waters washing away the dirty, grimy waters of Pittsburgh and suggesting Paul’s desire to escape into a distant, beautiful, and sensual world before drowning in the dreary lifestyle of his native city. Paul’s character continued …

23. Flowers – Flowers are very important to Paul. He wears a red carnation, sees dead grass and desires flowers, has “florid inventions,” and buys and buries flowers before his death. Whether he realizes it or not, Paul likens himself to a flower – as perhaps Cather does as well. Paul is fragile, lives in beauty but only briefly. He is shut in Cordelia Street for the winter but blossoms in the spring, and dies after his “one splendid breath.” Portraits – Over Paul’s bed are portraits of John Calvin and George Washington, two authority figures who are disciplined and austere and whose work ethic and practical approach to life Paul revolts against. Paul’s character continued …

24. By the end of the story we have a thorough portrait or case study of the protagonist. Paul is a romantic, but shortsighted young man who believes his aesthetic impulses and his flare for the dramatic make him superior to those around him. He is impatient and lacks discipline, but he is very much alone. He has no positive role models and no one to help him sort out his feelings of alienation, artistic inclination, his grand concepts, and his hopelessness. Paul’s character continued …

25. Character in “A Wicked Woman” To understand the characters in Jack London’s “A Wicked Woman,” we must first recognize that the story is a romantic comedy which mocks the conventions of courtship and marriage. London keeps the tone and satire light, making effective use of humor and irony. At times, his tone may be facetious and even sarcastic, but never bitterly so. Consider how we come to know Loretta. When we are introduced to her, we read that she is too young to marry and that she is “so innocent a young thing that were it not for her sweet guilelessness she would be positively stupid” – a description we come to realize is ironic.

26. Character in “A Wicked Woman” She has left her home community to escape a torrid romance with Billy and perhaps, we might later conclude, to escape her dominating sister Daisy or to put to work the techniques that she learned from Daisy to catch a suitable husband. In Santa Clara, we read that Loretta has blossomed, that she has “bourgeoned” and “swiftly developed personality” – maybe too swiftly. We realize that she may not be the guileless innocent and fragile flower that we and Ned were led to believe.

27. Loretta continued … As we see Loretta in action, we notice how she enjoys the attention that she receives at the Hemingways. We note too how she seems manipulative: she “unconsciously” likes to be the center of things and, for instance, will drop her handkerchief for someone to pick up. (The word unconsciously is used ironically.) The narrator tells us that Loretta has “learned to cast flies in still pools” – throughout the story fishing is a metaphor for catching a mate. Mr. Hemingway, for instance, chooses not to teach the beginner Ned how to fish. Suspicions of Loretta’s deceptiveness are confirmed during the climax when she outsmarts the egotistical Ned and traps him into proposing to her. Loretta plays the role of the melodramatic heroine, a role that she has no doubt seen on stage. She weeps at being wronged by a man (although not too wronged) and thereby evokes Ned’s sense of manliness and chivalric duty to protect the needy heroine. She makes exaggerated gestures (“boo-hoo”) and states, “I wish I were dead.” These conventional ploys and melodramatic posturings outsmart and trap Ned.

28. “A Wicked Woman” continued … At the end of the story, we are left with many questions concerning Loretta – and no definite answers : For instance, did she leave home because she did have intercourse with Billy? Could she be pregnant and therefore in a rush to marry someone more desirable as a provider? Could this explain Billy’s seeming desperation? Or was Loretta merely practicing on Billy, all the time hoping for a better catch? Do you think Captain Kitt was trapped by Daisy? Do Loretta and Daisy take seriously Kitt’s concern that Loretta was too young to marry? Consider the title: Is Loretta really wicked? She uses the term several times in her ploy to entrap Ned. Certainly, she does not believe herself to be “wicked,” but is she “wicked” in her entrapment of Ned and the façade that she creates for herself. Or is she as sweet and guileless as she seems? Or is she somewhere between the two?

29. “A Wicked Woman”: Secondary Characters ●Jack and Alice Hemingway Alice Hemingway plays the role of matchmaker. She intends to marry Ned off this time. It is quite probable that she knows the true character of both Loretta and Ned as she frames her letter to Ned as an “inducement.” Furthermore, Jack laughs at his wife’s stories of Loretta and, in his mind, refers to Loretta as an “appearance.” Jack also chooses to stand aside and let Ned “fish” for himself. When he sees the plan evolving, he winks at his wife as if to inform her of his knowledge of the matrimonial game being played. ● Ned Ned is a comic figure. He tries to emulate his concept of the ancient Greeks as deep thinking and moderate. Actually, he is neither, despite references to “profundity” and Loretta’s “aura of a white soul.” London pokes fun at Ned’s pompous, philosophical, and worldly posturing. He writes that Ned “confused superficiality with profundity, and entangled appearance with reality” – not the signals of an intelligent or “profound” individual. ● Ned is just as much a sham as Loretta. Like Loretta, he is exposed throughout the story but most clearly in the climax where his love for Loretta overwhelms him. At that point, his arrogant belief that women are “faithless and unveracious” collapses, ironically enough, under the “unveracious” posturing of Loretta. His supposed moderation and his pose of being “jaded and worn” give way as he grows concerned about Loretta’s virginity. In fact, he explodes and, “no longer a Greek,” becomes “a violently angry young man.” He loses himself but is relieved to find that Loretta has only kissed Billy. He begins to light a cigarette, but stops, believing the behavior impolite and resumes his pose as a Greek who now heroically will propose to Loretta.

30. For Further Consideration 1. Point of view is critical for understanding characters. Compare and contrast the points of view in “Who’s Irish?” and “A Wicked Woman.” Are both narrative voices completely reliable? Do they intentionally or unintentionally withhold information about the characters, including themselves (i.e., in “Who’s Irish?”)? Is there missing information that would have helped us understand the characters more fully? 2. Often our understanding of the protagonist only becomes complete during the climax of the story. Identify the climax in “Paul’s Case” and “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.” What occurs in these climaxes that leads us to a more complete understanding of Paul and Granny? Are we more sympathetic towards them before or after the climax? 3. Consider the four protagonists in the stories discussed. Which character changed the most through the course of the story? What caused the character to change? Why didn’t the others change as much?