Characters

There are many ways of characterizing including: how a character speaks; how others react;
prominence/importance in the text; being round or flat; associated images and symbols;
connection to key messages, idea, and text titles. All communicate a sense of character and
role.

Placing characters on a continuum

Another way to consider characters is to look at a continuum and decide where – roughly - you
would place them. Examples are:

 Victim -----------------------------Perpetrator
 Passive-----------------------------Active
 Self-orientated------------------------------altruistic
 Fixed------------------------------open to change
 Sympathetic------------------------unsympathetic

You could add values of your own.

For the main characters in our text(s), consider:

- Who is a round character?
- Are any flat characters ‘pretending to be round’?
- Are any characters linked to the text title?
- What imagery/ symbols is/are most associated with a character?
An example might be the conch (Piggy) or a spear (Jack).

Other ways in:

- Words most associated with a character. For Marjane, I suggest checking this separately
for the child and the adult.
- A graph (like the suspense graph) based on your evolving approval/disapproval (or
values you create).

Changing context

Another way to assess a character is to consider how he/she would react in a changed context.
E.M. Forster actually writes a predicted future for two of his character, years later. Round
characters are likely to have qualities and driving forces that enable you to view them from the
perspective of a new context. An example might be: predict the adult jobs for the key boys on
the island and give reasons.