It's Alive

It’s Alive

What is it in the description of a character, which makes the character come alive for us? How does the author communicate to the reader, why this person is memorable? What makes the character jump off the page, and tell us that they are going to be with us throughout the story.

Queequeg was first described as covered with tattoos. Does that evoke enough in us to picture the character? The first description of the boy wizard is that of a lightening scar on his forehead. The tattoos may not make him unique among his peers, but it is enough of a difference from the average reader to make him standout in our memories. As for the lightening scar, it is portrayed as a badge of sorts. One that will identify the character to others in the story, and remains a distinctive and visible identification of who he is both to his friends and to his enemies.

If a character is very tall, will that make him stand out from others? In the real world it worked for both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Try to find a story with either of those men in it, and see if they aren’t described by their height. Eyes are popular features that the author includes to make us picture the character. Are the eyes piercing, or milky? Can they be brilliant or are they pale? Often the color is used as an identifier. Brilliant blue, dark brown, black as the night (And often as their soul), or if the author is working overtime violet or green.

The author goes with the old adage that the “eyes are the window to the soul,” and thus makes us see what the character will be by noticing their eyes. Every so often the author will go in the opposite direction and use the description of the eyes to show the lack of importance of the character. The eyes are dull, unfocused, wandering. They never look directly at you. They move too much, and indicate that we should distrust the character.

How about clothes? The famed “deerstalker” hat immediately brings to mine the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes. The all green attire of the archer, finds us remembering Robin Hood. Although, one does wonder what he did in the winter when Sherwood forest was all covered with white snow. Talk about a stand out type of guy.

In how many stories can you remember the villain as wearing “hob nailed” boots? They must have been on sale at “Bad Guys Are Us.” Early Westerns had the bad guy wearing the black hat and the good guys wearing a white hat. That identification would later cause trouble for our sword welding friend with the Spanish accent, whose name began with Zorro. There the hero always was identified by his all black attire. Stylish, but it must have been hot in the California sun.

If I say rumpled rain coat, you think “Colombo.” If I tell you that I saw a man in a bright yellow hat, you’re likely to ask if he had a curious monkey with him. If I said he had a long red cape, you might ask if it was a bird or perhaps a plane. If I told you that I spotted a short person with white gloves and large round ears. Mickey pops into your head.

Sometimes it’s not what they wear, but what they carry with them that makes them distinctive. For instance, a very large man may not be easily identifiable, but if I add that he was carrying a large axe, our buddy Paul Bunyan comes to mind. If that was a large man walking near the railroad tracks, he might be a mystery. Add that he was carrying a large hammer, and you think John Henry. Of course to be fair, if I also mentioned that he had a helmet with horns, you would go with “Thor.”

Many comic book characters are identified by their unique costumes.  The all red “Flash,” or the green “Green lantern.” The “Batman” comes in all black, and those fantastic four are attired in various clothes that are blue. Many of the heroes wear tight fitting costumes, but if I tell you that they have an “X” on the front you can identify them as members of the mutant “X-Men.”

Of course the exact opposite might be true. If I tell you that I saw a naked woman, you might ask where I was standing. If I add, that she was riding a horse, you would guess that I saw Lady Godiva.

Last but not least is the fellow whose clothes are not individual, who carries nothing identifiable, and whose eyes may not even match, but has large bolts piercing each side of his neck, you would of course say…