Character Sketch / 171“Just visiting. What are you reading lately?”
“Most recently I’ve been reading up a bit on the ancient herbal medicines. You know the Incas....”
Listening to the details of his past day’s reading helped put the room in perspective. The plants
on the windowsill, the aroma from the oven, the cookie-cakes on the table, the food in his
plate, the trays of dried leaves on the refrigerator, the strings of dried flowers and pods hanging
from the ceiling light, the bags of dried grains in the corner, and the fresh vegetable cuttings in
the sink wove their way into his recounting of his latest reading.
“It’s all in what you eat, you know. Eat up.” The cookie-cake things seemed to grow uglier by
the minute. He wiped his plate clean with some kind of dark brown bread, stuffed the hunk in
his mouth, and wiped the dribble from his chin. “Eat up, my boy, eat up!”
Only when the door slapped shut on squeaky hinges after his final goodbye did the over-
whelming sensory bombardment drift away with the air. Ah, fresh air.ANALYSIS of THE SAMPLE CHARACTER SkETCH
The preceding character sketch achieves a description of a peculiar neighbor without
telling the reader that he is peculiar. Note how:
- The writer shows the character’s eccentricities by allowing readers to see a
series of seemingly incongruous characteristics:- The man uses fine bone china but eats in clutter on an old painted table.
- His speech and the abundance of books tumbling on every sitting place
suggest an educated man with an eccentric lifestyle. - Readers see the kitchen, full of herbs living, drying, and dried, and make the
connection with the old man’s reading. - Although readers do not know for sure, they suspect the old man may have
only recently become fascinated by the effect of certain herbs on one’s
physical and/or mental being. - The visitor, obviously unprepared for the experience, finds the situation a bit
more than he can bear. - The writer shows that the visitor is eager to leave, shows that the old man’s
conversation causes the boy’s mind to wander, and shows that the cookie-
cakes are unappetizing. A good characterization, you will recall, shows; it
does not tell.
- The methods of development obviously include all three mentioned in Step 4:
description, action, and conversation:- The readers witness the descriptions, see the room, the clutter, the details.
They see books, a ladder-back rocker, foods, china, painted table, refrigerator,
sink, and so on. All these descriptions aid in characterizing the eccentric
old man.
- The readers witness the descriptions, see the room, the clutter, the details.