Static And Dynamic Character

What are the characters’ emotions, attitudes, and behaviors? What do these indicate to the reader about the character?

Virgil Tibbs could be described as a secondary protagonist. Virgil is round because he has many sides to his nature. He is static because he does not change or grow and is the same sort of person throughout the story. And he is realistic because he shows many human characteristics.

Character is defined as one’s moral qualities. I have very high expectations for my character, and I hold myself to them. Every time a person isn't the nicest to me or someone else, I remind myself not to stoop to their level. I tell myself, “Treat others how you would want to be treated.” I will always treat myself and everyone around me with respect, courtesy, and kindness.

• What are the characters’ emotions, attitudes, and behaviors? What do these indicate to the reader about the character?

According to Vocabulary.com, a sympathetic character in literature is a character who is likable or who evokes feelings of sympathy from the audience. A prime example of a sympathetic character is Walter Lee Younger from A Raisin in the Sun. This is because he is the protagonist, his qualities are highlighted well, he is a victim, and he is a sacrificer..

A character is someone portrayed in a novel, play, or movie that represents an person. An author can create characters in many ways to show the emotional, mental, and physical characteristics of that individual. An author has an infinite amount of choices of how he or she can construct characters. Zadie Smith does just that in “The Girl with Bangs.” In “The Girl with Bangs,” Smith represents the narrator as a normal college student that falls in love with a girl, named Charlotte because of her bangs. This representation sets up a series of conflict when Charlotte’s boyfriend, Maurice, moves and Charlotte hooks up with the narrator. Maurice then moves back months later to find out that she has cheated on him with the narrator and another unknown male. The narrator later finds out that Charlotte has cheated on her with the unknown guy and then was going to choose Maurice over her, which causes a small fight about who should actually have her. This gets resolved when she shaves her head in spite of all three men. Maurice is the only one who still wants her. The narrator has clear motivation about why she wants Charlotte, she is a dynamic character, and she is a round character.

A dynamic character is a character that changes and develops throughout a story. Usually these changes occur due to events, experiences, or just simply maturing. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, the most prominent example of a dynamic character is the book thief herself, Liesel Meminger. At the beginning of the novel when she is only nine years old, she is a very different person than she is at the end of the novel. By then she is nearing fifteen years of age and has underwent a numerous amount of situations, both traumatic and beautiful.

Character descriptions are used to give a first and usually last impression of a character. The novel "Lord of the Flies" is a typical example. When Ralph is first mentioned he is described as a big solid boy who is confident when he talks, which indicates the qualities of a leader. As soon as Piggy is introduced he starts suggesting witty ideas that are thrown back in his face, which parallel throughout the novel. Piggy is also described as a fat little boy with asthma and glasses, which indicates straight away that he will be stereotypical of society and be cast away as a nobody. There is significant conflict between Jack and Ralph in the first chapter which also continues to grow throughout the novel. A character profile is used to involve the reader and give a character more depth into their personality thus creating a more intense storyline.

in literature or drama, a character who undergoes a permanent change in outlook or character during the story; also called

In the play, The Diary of Anne Frank, and the novel The Devil’s Arithmetic, characters undergo many changes throughout their stories. Anne Frank from the play The Diary of Anne Frank and Hannah Stern from The Devil’s Arithmetic are both dynamic and round characters. A round character is a well developed, usually main, character and a dynamic character is a character who changed throughout the book. In the play, Anne goes from being a rude and childish/immature girl to a thoughtful, brave young woman, and in The Devil’s Arithmetic, Hannah undergoes the change of being impatient and disrespectful to being understanding and sentimental.

It is in these actions that the character’s traits are established. It is in this that we, the readers, get to “see” what kind of character thee people are: friendly, sad, nosey, love-struck, adventurous, etc. When we discuss characters in literature, poetry, and even film, we often describe them in terms of their character traits, descriptive adjectives that define the specific qualities of the character. The author/ poet/ director may present this directly, but often times, they show us this in action. Our job as readers/ viewers is to draw conclusions about the character’s traits (infer them). Below is a list of ways we can determine the traits of the character we are studying:

Characterization in a narrative is how the author creates and describes a character. The character is introduced and then explained in detail throughout the story. The two ways an author can deliver this information to the audience is through direct and indirect characterization. Direct characterization is when the author is telling the readers information about the character and what he or she is like. Indirect characterization is when the author attempts to show what the character is like and give the reader information through the character’s actions and words. Through both direct and indirect characterization, we are able to understand some of the physical attributes of the character as well as their personality. People want to know why

In many works of literature, some characters change and grow while others remain the same. A character who changes is known as a dynamic character. In the novel A Raisin In the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the main character, Walter Lee Younger, is an example of a dynamic character. Walter lives with his wife Ruth, his sister Beneatha, his son Travis, and his mother Lena in a small, one family apartment in the southside of Chicago. The black Younger family lived in a time period between 1945 and 1959 when black segregation was starting to become more recognized. They are barely making it through life moneywise and the family seems to be becoming weaker. Walter is an example of a dynamic character because his character evolves throughout the novel by changing from a selfless, caring, family man to a very selfish person, only looking out for himself.

A sympathetic character, is a character that the writer expects the reader (in this case watcher) to identify with and care about. In Shakespeare's play King Lear, the characters Gloucester and King Lear both start out not being liked by the reader because they come off as mean and cold. By the end of the play, the reader does sympathize for both of these characters because of how they have been betrayed by their children. Both King Lear and Gloucester turn out to be prime examples of a sympathetic character by the end of the play.

Dynamic characters are characters which go through substantial changes, typically due to a traumatic or powerful experience. In Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street, by Hugh Wheeler, the character known as Sweeney Todd is arguably a dynamic character; Due in part, heavily, to having his tendencies of being entirely self-motivated and caring nothing for anyone but himself ripped away as he discovers he murdered his wife. Sweeney Todd at the beginning of the play obviously seems to care nothing for anyone except revenge for the supposed murder of his wife. Nearing the end of the play, He still has that same primary concern for revenge no matter what the cost. However, at the very end of the play when he discovers his wife dead, he