Hello everyone!
I have been thinking about the development of characters in stories. Most times when reading reviews of books or movies or TV shows you will hear them discuss character arcs. One of the most important things in stories to us is whether or not the characters change along the way. Sometimes I wonder why it is so important to readers and viewers. Yes, we change all the time and that change makes it more realistic, but sometimes we don't even notice how we change. If you asked someone how their character had changed between yesterday and today or even last year and today, we would likely struggle to describe it accurately. Why is it then, that we expect the creator to describe the change extremely accurately and deliberately?
My best personal answer is that it is more satisfying to us when the characters change. If the character keeps learning the same lesson and making the same mistakes over and over again, it gets really frustrating. My other guess is that the majority of the time, characters in these shows and books are generally going through some pretty extreme circumstances so it would be unbelievable if they did not change at all.
I find this very interesting. I had not considered the reason why we look for characters to develop and grow as the story progresses; it's just, as you said, expected. This also makes me think back to fairytales. Particularly, one of the original versions of the Snow White story. As is typical of a fairytale, Snow White is put through three trials. What made me think of this is your assessment that if a character continuously makes the same mistake, never learning, it's frustrating for the reader. Well, in the version I'm thinking of, she never does learn from her mistakes, falling for the same trick each time and having to be rescued. There's absolutely no character development for Snow White, because of this, as is typical of old fairytales, they're rather shallow. So this also demonstrates the progression of storytelling and what modern audiences expect and like from a story.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with your opinion of how we, as readers and viewers, feel more satisfied with a story if the characters change and grow. A common trait among my favorite stories is the fact that the main (or even side) characters observably change and grow as learn from their experiences and mistakes. I think the reason why I really appreciate character arcs is because oftentimes, I project myself onto a character or come to know them almost as a friend. As we create our own personal relationships with characters, we root for them and if a writer doesn't let them change or learn, it's frustrating, just as it would be frustrating in real life. Additionally, if a character does grow but the writer contradicts the visible change by the end of the story, that creates even more dissatisfaction.
ReplyDelete