- •System of images. Means of characterization
- •1. Presentation of the character through action.
- •2. Speech characteristics.
- •3. Psychological portrayal and analysis of motive
- •4. Description of the outward appearance, the portrayal of a character
- •5. Description of the world of things that surround the character.
- •6. The use of a foil.
3. Psychological portrayal and analysis of motive
The
penetration into the mind of the character, description of his mental
processes and subtle psychological changes that motivate his actions,
the penetration into his thoughts – all that is an effective
means of characterization that writers very often resort to.
Priestley's Angel
Pavement
abounds
in
illustrations of
psychological
portrayal. For example, the description of Miss Matfield's state
of mind when she realized at the station that she had been waiting
for Golspie in vain, standing there with a suitcase and a cheap
imitation of a wedding ring in her bag, while Golspie was miles away
from London "not caring if she spent the rest of her life in
Victoria Station. Never before had she felt such bitter contempt for
herself. She could have cried and cried, not because he had gone and
she would probably never set eyes on him again, but because his
sudden indifference, at this time of all times, left her feeling
pitiably small and silly. The misery of it was like the onslaught of
some unexpected, terrible disease. Her mangled pride bled and ached
inside her, so that she felt faint". This description of her
psychological state and thoughts not only reveals the shame and
humiliation that she experienced, it also characterizes Matfield as a
sensitive creature, capable of experiencing profound and acute
feelings.
The
psychological state of a character is generally revealed by means of
inner represented
speech in the form of either free indirect speech or free direct
speech. In the following example J. Priestley resorts to free
indirect speech to reveal Turgis's state when he was dismissed: "His
job was gone. What could he do? A bit of typing and clerking, that
was all, and anybody could do that; even girls would do it, ... just
as well as he would ... Something had gone wrong. Where, how had it
gone wrong? He could be as anybody, if only he had a chance to be;
and why hadn't he a chance to be?". His thoughts reveal his
despair, his awareness of the injustices that were done to him. It
also reveals his ability to think clearly and to realize how unfair
life was to him.
4. Description of the outward appearance, the portrayal of a character
In fiction there exist some relationships between the character and his appearance. Thus, features as “hard eyes” or a “cruel mouth like a scar" create the picture of a man who is capable of mean and wicked actions. The writer often marks some suitable feature in the character's portrait which is suggestive of his nature. In literature physical portayal often suggests moral, mental or spiritual characteristics. Tor example, Turgis from Angel Pavement — a weak-willed day-dreamer who is doped by trashy Hollywood films — is introduced to the reader in the following way: "This was Turgis, the clerk ... a thinnish, awkward young man, with ... poor shoulders, ... a small, still babyish mouth, usually open, ... drooping rather than retreating chin. ... the faint grey film that seemed to cover and subdue him ..." All that suggests that he is feeble, defenceless, irresolute, weak-willed, unintelligent. Whereas Miss Matfield's description is as follows: "What they saw was a girl of twenty-seven or twenty-eight, or even twenty-nine, with decided eyebrows, a smouldering eye,... a mouth that was a discontented crimson curve, and a firm round chin that was ready to double itself at any moment." All that suggests a resolute, decisive personage, though dissatisfied with her life.