Development of character forms the single, most important element of most works fiction, and the way in which we respond to the character has a major influence on our interpretation and response to the text. For example, try to imagine the short story As Boys to Wanton Flies by Michael Wilding, without the development of the protagonist, Lionel. Effective characterisation helps the reader to identify with the themes in the story, by presenting the issues & conflicts that the character experiences with its surrounding environment, and with other characters in the story.
Characterisation, in conjunction with other narrative techniques, is the key to successful fiction. Characterisation is the technique used by an author in the presentation of characters in a literary work. Characters are revealed by their dialogue, their actions, their appearance, and by their interaction with others. Characterisation is achieved in much the same way as we become acquainted with people in real life: we note what they look like; we listen to what they say and how they speak; we observe their gestures, how they move their bodies, and the things they do; and we listen to what other people tell us about them.
All of these add to our total understanding of a character. Our level of understanding of the character will determine our understanding of the story, which in turn will determine the success of the authors work. As Boys to Wanton Flies by Michael Wilding, relies heavily on development of character to present the major themes and issues featured in the story. Without the development of Lionel, the main character, the story would have been significantly meaningless. As a character, Lionel represented many things, the most dominant being a challenge to the male gender stereotype.
The development of his intense fear for insects and his attraction to Erica formed a basis for his character, and gave the reader insight to his inner workings. Lionels thoughts, emotions & fears became the story. Had his characterisation not been as apparent, then the story would not have been as successful in conveying its message. Characters are constructed by the author to make the audience perceive them in a particular way. In Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman the main character, Willy Loman, is shown to the reader to be a failure, but at the same time, he is constructed by Miller to evoke a feeling of sympathy from the reader.
We are encouraged to see him as a failure because he had the wrong dreams, all wrong. Yet we are intended to sympathise with Willy for having the wrong dreams, or rather, for holding onto those dreams long after they ceased to correspond to reality. It is through Willy that the main issue in the story unfolds. Had he not been constructed to such an extent, the audience would not have perceived him to such a degree, and the play would not have been successful in presenting its ideals. In the novel, Cloudstreet by Tim Winton, the characters play a very important role in conveying the themes.
Prior to his accident, Fish Lamb is described as smart and good looking, and everyone loves him, hes always wisecracking around, talking too loud, being loveable. After being brought back to life by his mother, Oriel after his near-death experience, Fish appears to be a retard. Yet while one side of him seems permanently brain damaged, the other half of him is the intelligence of the story, the voice that narrates it and becomes one with that of the river. It is this part of Fish that longs to return to the water so that the two Fish Lambs can reunite and exist out of time and place.
Fish Lamb appears to be the most inarticulate character in the novel, but is in actual fact the most articulate of them all. He is a type of holy fool, one who seems out of touch of reality, but who in fact has insights and understandings beyond immediate reality. It is through Fish Lamb that several of the novels main themes reconciliation, homecoming and importance of family are presented. The novel is deeply intertwined with the importance of homecoming, and having a place where the individual feels that they totally belong. Each of the characters represents a different aspect of this essential belonging.
Roses need is shown by her independence, and her anorexia that comes as a result of this. Quicks urgency is shown by the nightmares that haunt his sleep whilst he is away from home, arising from the guilt he feels from the accident with Fish. By revealing these characters overwhelming desire to belong, the author is developing the character, and exploring the themes in the novel with greater depth. Without these developments of the characters, this particular element of the story would not be as strongly apparent, and the reader would not have been able to draw as much meaning from the novel.
