Lecture 6: Characters—Round and Flat, Major and Minor

Characters—Round and Flat, Major and Minor ................................

Lecture 6

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s we’ve said, characters are constructed in different ways for

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different functions. In some narratives, writers provide as much

detail as possible about leading characters because they are the main focus

of the story. In other narratives, the cast of characters is quite large, with

no single dominant character. This kind of story requires the writer to

sketch characters in quick, powerful strokes. Narratives also have minor

characters, who often simply introduce a plot point before they disappear.

These characters need to be useful and vivid and not much more. In this

lecture, we’ll discuss character development and the uses of different types

of characters.

Flat Characters

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the English novelist E. M. Forster in his book $VSHFWVRIWKH1RYHO.

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types or caricatures; their chief distinguishing feature is that they have

only one chief distinguishing feature. As Forster puts it, “They are

constructed round a single idea or quality.”

z In 7KH$GYHQWXUHVRI+XFNOHEHUU\)LQQ, Huck himself is round, but

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example might be Huck’s father, Pap Finn, who can be summed up in

a single sentence: He’s a mean drunk. Pap exists mainly to further the

plot: When Huck can no longer stand Pap’s abuse, he fakes his own

death and takes off down the Mississippi River with the slave Jim.

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conniving and oily Uriah Heep in 'DYLG&RSSHU¿HOG; the brutal criminal

Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist; and Miss Havisham in *UHDW([SHFWDWLRQV,

who was abandoned at the altar on her wedding day and has set herself

apart from the rest of the world ever since.