Characterization

Since I felt that none of the short stories this week deserved to have more than one blog entry spent on them, I decided to dedicate my fourth blog to characterization, since that is this week's focal point.  Characterization is the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character.  Within this, there are two types of characterization: indirect and direct.

1. INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION the author reveals to the reader what the character is like by describing how the character looks and dresses, by letting the reader hear what the character says, by revealing the character’s private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the characters effect on other people (showing how other characters feel or behave toward the character), or by showing the character in action.
2. DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION the author tells us directly what the character is like: sneaky, generous, mean to pets and so on.

The majority (if not all) the characterization in this week's pieces was indirect, as is common in modern literature.  Through characterization, the author paints a picture for the reader as to what type of character each person is in the story.  Some categories that most characters fall into include the following: static, dynamic, flat, and round.

1. STATIC CHARACTER is one who does not change much in the course of a story.
2. DYNAMIC CHARACTER is one who changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action.
3. FLAT CHARACTER has only one or two personality traits. They are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard. They can be summed up in one phrase.
4. ROUND CHARACTER has more dimensions to their personalities---they are complex, just as real people are.

Most of the time, a central character or protagonist is round and dynamic, although this is not always the case.  For the men in Hunters in the Snow, Kenny nor Tub undergo any significant change, and even Frank's change of heart toward Tub seems temporary, or as though that nature of his personality had at least existed all along.  Mama, the narrator of Everyday Use, experiences a dynamic change of character when taking the blanket from Dee and giving it to Maggie, symbolic of her rejection of Dee's principles and staying steadfast in her belief that her way of raising Maggie is best.  In Bartleby the Scrivener, it appears that Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut are flat characters, defined by what time of the day they work best.  A conglomeration of these different types of characters is what gives a story its flavor and contributes to the work of the meaning as a whole, regardless of what that meaning may be.