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Fiction - Showing The Change In Characters Through The Trajectory Of A Story by Dennis Murphy
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Fiction - Showing The Change In Characters Through The Trajectory Of A Story by DENNIS MURPHY
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| Article Posted: 10/02/2012 |
| Article Views: 34 |
| Articles Written: 276 - MORE ARTICLES FROM THIS AUTHOR |
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Fiction - Showing The Change In Characters Through The Trajectory Of A Story |
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Education
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As has been indicated by writers and writing coaches, in a good story, characters create conflict; consequently, conflict creates drama. In addition, a story shows more depth if its characters go through changes. The question is: how can a writer go about showing the changes inside his characters during the trajectory of the story? Let us take a brief look at how some characters may go through a change in a story. If a story is written from the first person point of view, the character may show the workings of his mind through the narration of his feelings, or the change can be followed in a character's journal. In Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, the main character, Charlie Gordon, keeps a journal of his progress throughout the story to let us follow the drastic change in his mental progress and decline. In a play, a character may show his inner change and his inner workings through asides and soliloquies. The change can also be shown through the interaction of characters called confidantes. A confidante is someone in whom a character confides his inner turmoil, joys, and sorrows, thus revealing the gradual or abrupt change in his make-up. In The Door into Summer, Robert Heinlein's Dan Davis talks to his cat Pete, letting the reader see how his plans and feelings are changing. If a major character has his opposite, at the end of the story when that character has gone through a change, the reader finds that the character's understanding and values has neared to that of his opposite. An opposite in a story, sometimes called the foil, need not be the antagonist to the protagonist. A foil is someone whose character contrasts the character of the protagonist or any other important character to highlight the protagonist's or another important character's personality. The most important fact is that all character changes in a story must come through the events in a story. Strong will in a character is also important for conflict and drama, especially in a short story, even if the character goes through a change as the result of the events in the plotline. A weak character does not offer much drama if he shows no change; however, when a character starts out as a weakling and changes to become stronger and overcomes many obstacles, the story becomes a success. In the Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins is a wimp in the beginning of the story. By the end of the book, he is strong, responsible, and self-assured; thus he makes the reader feel good for the change in him. Some character changes come about slowly throughout the story; others happen instantly as the result of one dramatic event. The best way to show this change in a character through the events is to write it in scenes with one specific scene being the instigating factor for change. Each scene in a story needs to have well-drawn characters, its own conflict, time, place, and mood. To show the change a character is going through, the character's mood has to fit the mood of the scene to highlight the change in him. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act 3-Scene 4, in the queen's closet scene where Hamlet kills Polonius, we see the change in the queen from a self-confident woman to one who becomes thrown-off-balance to fit the drama of the scene. If a character does not change totally except for one or more aspects of him, the writer's task is to dramatize the changing parts in him. For example, if a victim is out for revenge but witnesses someone else suffer as the result of his attempts for revenge, he may learn to forgive those who have wronged him. Then, the writer has to dramatize his witnessing the partial results of his revenge. In other words, the change in a character has to be shown through and within a scene or several scenes. The change-instigating scene needs to be written well, especially when the motivation of the character changes. In The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, the instigating scene is the one in which the ex-convict Tom Joad picks up the turtle and tells Casy, the minister, to start leading the people. The turtle is a metaphor for the middle class farmers and their struggles. As Steinbeck did in Tom Joad's case, it is important to dramatize the emotion of the character whose motivation will change. When the characters do not change as to their personalities but what they want changes, the plot needs to be adjusted accordingly. For this reason, some writers do not like to make a detailed outline of the plot in the beginning; they prefer to write the story as their characters progress and change. In the long run, whether writers have a plan or not, stories with fully developed characters at the end will succeed if they leave an emotional impact on the reader. thesis writing
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