In all books there is that character that because of how the author describes them and the way they talk or how other characters talk about them you just can’t help but sympathize with them. In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men that character is Lennie Small. The reader can sympathize with Lennie because he has a dream and he doesn’t really have anyone.
Unlike character, characterization can be defined as methods an author uses to create the characters. Two examples an author can use are direct characterization where a character is directly described by the author, and indirect characterization where the character is revealed by their actions, reactions of other characters, thought, and speech. There are a few scenes in the play where the author directly describes a character. One example of major direct characterization comes from scene one in which Stanley is first introduced and described. Tennessee Williams writes, “Branching out from this complete and satisfying center are all the auxiliary channels of his life, such as his heartiness with men, his appreciation of rough humor, his love of good drink and food and games, his car, his radio, everything that is his emblem of the gaudy seed-bearer.” (Williams 84). His description of Stanley gives the reader a picture of how he acts and how he will act throughout the rest of the story. Much of the indirect characterization of the play can also be centered around the heated topic of sensuality. Blanche is an important character whose characterization heavily relies on her actions related to sensuality, and other’s reactions to her actions. “Blanche waltzes to the music with romantic gestures. Mitch is delighted and moves in awkward imitation like a dancing bear.” (Williams 97). This quote shows the relationship between Blanche and Mitch, a potential love interest, after she
Indirect characterization is a literary device in which the author reveals information about the character indirectly through his/her thoughts, words, actions, and/or relationships with others. In The Secret Life of Bees,Sue Monk Kidd uses indirect characterization to reveal information about Lily Owens. Through Lily’s actions, thoughts, and words, the reader sees that she is a loyal friend, a young girl with independent thoughts, and a clever and intelligent person.
In the short story “Lamb to the Slaughter,” written by Roald Dahl, Dahl uses direct and indirect characterization to give us both realistic and improbable portrayals of characters, In addition to showing us the values and perspective of the characters. In this short story the author states, “This was her sixth month expecting a child.” (Dahl, 1). Direct characterization is when the author directly provides information on the personality or background on the character instead of indirectly revealing it through actions and speech. This quote obviously utilizes direct characterization by describing background information on Mary Maloney. Additionally, the fact that it was her sixth month expecting a child is direct characterization because we did not have to assume it through actions and speech, the author directly mentioned it in the first page. Not only does Dahl use direct characterization, but also indirect characterization. In the story the author states, “It’s probably right under our noses. What do you think Jack? And in the other room Mary Maloney began to laugh.” (Dahl 4). Indirect characterization is when the author reveals background and the personality of the character through thoughts and actions. In like manner, so does this quote. In this quote the author reveals the personality of Mary Maloney through her speech instead of directly giving us information. In this quote, Mary Maloney laughs at the death of her husband and we can assume that she is a cruel
In the story Of Mice and Men, it follows a disabled man and his crafty caretaker looking for work on a farm. The few characters that are shown in the book possess very diverse personalities that fit into different archetypes, many of them challenge the stereotypes that surrounded them during the early twentieth century. Archetypes are characteristics that are commonly seen in literature and real life. In the book Of Mice and Men there are seven distinct archetypes that all have different characteristics in them. One thing that all the characters have in common, though, is loneliness. Throughout the book the theme of loneliness is constantly there, and one of the loneliest characters is Crooks. Crooks fits the archetype of an outcast
The novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck is set in America in the 1930’s and it describes the lives of migrant farmers as they go from farm to farm looking for jobs. It also shows the loneliness of the characters and the hard work that they put in. The main characters of the book are Lennie, a man-child, and George, a small man but very powerful character that takes care of Lennie in their journey. Also when they get to the farm they meet the bosses wife who is very lonely and looks for company in the workers. Steinbeck uses characterization to bring his characters to life using various techniques.
In “The Prologue” of Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses both direct and indirect characterization to introduce the characters. Direct characterization presents a character’s personalities directly. For example Chaucer’s statement that “the knight followed chivalry, truth/honor…” Indirect characterization uses actions, thoughts, and dialogue to reveal a character’s personality.
We learned that the Prophet is the antagonist of this novel while Kirsten is the protagonist. The author uses indirect characterization to introduce the Prophet. For example, he uses the Prophets mother to show indirect characterization. The prophet’s mother's behavior and attitude affected the Prophet as she was an alcoholic and Prophet is short-tempered. This shows indirect characterization as the audience gets a clue of the Prophets attitude through his mother's attitude.
Most authors when writing like to provide clues about the character for the reader to fill in the blanks called a direct characterization some authors tell the reader exactly what the character's personality is leaving nothing to the imagination which is called direct characterization some authors use both indirect and direct characterization Jack Finney who wrote contents of the Dead Man's Pocket uses direct characterization as well as a direct characterization in Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket Jack Finney uses direct characterization at the beginning of the story Finney writes he was a tall lean dark-haired young man a pullover sweater who looks as though he had played not football probably but basketball in college in other words finny
There are two types of characterization that are used throughout literature. Direct Characterization is when the author or director takes a direct approach and tells the reader what a character is like. With direct characterization the reader does not have to gather information about the character and put the information they have together about the character. Indirect characterization is when the author does not come out and tell the reader exactly what the aspects of the character are. With indirect characterization it may be more difficult to pinpoint exactly how a character is unless the reader really thinks about it.
The novel written by John Steinbeck called Of Mice and Men is about how two men who are migrant farm workers. Their names are George and Lennie. They are good friends and George takes care of Lennie because he is very incapable of taking her of himself. This novel has many different characters. They are all different in their own ways and all have their own archetype for the kind of characters that they are. The character George has The Hero archetype. One characteristic of this archetype is that they are trying to achieve a certain goal throughout the novel and must overcome obstacles throughout the way. This fits Georges character very well because throughout the entire book he is trying to achieve the goal of owning his own farm and he calls it the dream. The novel Of Mice and Men that was written by John Steinbeck, George is the protagonist and has the archetype of the hero.
Indirect characterization is when you learn a character's attributes through speech and interactions; “Two years later, Ben would be sworn in himself, but watching his big brother now was the next best thing”(Asimov,226). Based on the quote, we learn that Ben looks up to his big brother, without the author telling us directly. In the short story “I Am..Am I”, Taylor also uses indirect characterization; “‘I thought you were having dinner with your wife.’ For once, she almost added”(Taylor,29). Through the conversation between Chambers and King, the author has portrayed King as an unthoughtful husband. Both of the authors chose to write this way to show the characters motivations and make the reader have empathy for the
Of Mice and Men is used to convey the stereotypes Steinbeck encountered during his life using social commentary through different characters. These stereotypes help readers better understand the views of people during the 1930’s and how people behaved based off such views. They also show changes overtime in the development of new ideals through different generations. Overall, creating a common opinion on
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men uses characterization to express the underlying meaning of the novella. In life, there are mice and there are men, and life is a burden for both of them.
Characterization refers to the techniques a writer uses to develop characters in the story. In the story ‘A Rose for Emily’, William Faulkner uses characterization to reveal the character of Miss Emily Grierson, the main role. Faulkner’s use of language foreshadows and builds up to the climax of the story. He expresses the content of her character through physical descriptions, through her act, words, and feeling, through the narrator’s direct comments about the character’s nature, and through the actions, words and feelings of the other characters. Faulkner also uses the characterization to examine the theme of the story. His