Harper Lee used indirect characterization in ''To Kill A Mockingbird'' to explain the characters of Atticus and Jem Finch. Learn more about contrasting direct and indirect characterization and read on examples of it from the literature.
Have you heard of the writing adage, 'Show, don't tell'? This writing guideline is taught because, well, writing is typically more interesting if it's showing and not telling. Consider the following sentence in a story:
Mark is a considerate person.
When the narrator simply tells the reader something about the character, this is direct characterization. How does the writing change if the narrator says this instead?
Unbeknownst to the seated woman, her cardigan has fallen to the ground. Mark carefully picks it up, shakes off the dust, and gently returns it to the back of her chair.
When the narrator shows the reader a character's traits, this is indirect characterization. There's no right or wrong method, and authors can and do employ both types of characterization to create nuanced pictures of their characters. So, you be the judge about which one you prefer.
Now, we'll explore indirect characterization in greater detail by looking at how Harper Lee uses it in To Kill a Mockingbird.
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While an author or narrator may decide to simply tell key personality traits of the characters, he or she will often show these traits through the following methods of indirect characterization:
1. The character's actions
2. The character's spoken and unspoken thoughts
3. The character's physical characteristics
4. Reactions from other characters
Let's take a look at Atticus Finch. For each example, we'll see the associated personality trait it exemplifies.
1. He shoots a rabid dog (this action shows his courage).
2. He says: 'You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it' (this dialogue shows his lack of prejudice).
3. He says: 'Besides that, he wore glasses. He was nearly blind in his left eye, and said left eyes were the tribal curse of the Finches. Whenever he wanted to see something well, he turned his head and looked from his right eye' (this description shows his physical characteristics).
4. Miss Maudie Atkinson, a neighbor, says: 'He's the same in the courtroom as he is on the public streets' (this dialogue shows his integrity).
Methods of characterization become even more important when the author needs to show a character's growth. Let's take a look at Atticus's son, Jem Finch. Jem grows from a game-playing child to a mature teenager questioning and struggling with the hypocrisies of the adults around him. His actions and words show the evolution of his maturity.
At first, Jem perpetuates the rumors and superstitions surrounding the Radley household:
Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained - if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off.
In telling Atticus that Dill has run away from home, Jem shows the ability to weigh the consequences of a secret:
Dill's eyes flickered at Jem, and Jem looked at the floor. Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall. 'Atticus,' his voice was distant, 'can you come here a minute, sir?' […] Jem was standing in a corner of the room, looking like the traitor he was. 'Dill, I had to tell him,' he said. 'You can't run three hundred miles off without your mother knowin'.
Finally, Jem shows his maturity in critically thinking about the underbelly of prejudice:
If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time… it's because he wants to stay inside.
With indirect characterization, an author uses the character's actions, spoken and unspoken thoughts, physical characteristics, and others' reactions to the character to create and develop a character. With this method, we are afforded a rich understanding of the characters Atticus and Jem Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
In contrast, direct characterization is when the narrator simply tells the reader something about the character.
