Characterization in Two Stories - Admission/Application Essay Example

Characterization is a literary element which is “the process of conveying information about characters in fiction or conversation” (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.). The personalities of characters in the stories are revealed by description and through their way of speech and action. Characterization can be a very important literary element especially for literatures which are character-driven. Characterization can either be direct, in which the author literally tells the audience what the character is like and can be done through a narrator or it can be indirect or implicit in which the characters are revealed through the “character’s thoughts, actions, speech, looks and interaction with other characters” (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.). With this understanding, we will apply characterization in the analysis of two literary works, namely, “A Sorrowful Woman” and “The Story of an Hour”. A Sorrowful Woman First of all, it is worthy to mention the brilliance of the author in setting the mood of the story based on the description of the characters. There was tremendous strength in the clarity that each character displayed: the sorrowful woman, the loving husband, the energetic girl and the sweet little boy. The sorrowful woman did not get to enjoy the presence of a loving husband and a sweet little boy. She got overwhelmed with the responsibilities of taking care of her husband and child. The author said that, “the sight of them (husband and child) made her so sad and sick; she did not want to see them again”. From the husband’s words and from the action that she has to take a draught to sleep makes one think that she is sick. The instance that she hit her child and realizing that she was not the way she used to be indicates that the effect of the draught is now surfacing. The character of the woman is becoming worse with the effect of the draught, but she had to rely on it for sleeping. The woman got pissed off with the presence of the little girl, who has become close both to her husband and her son. This now indicates the jealous character, which is most probably brought by her sickness. The author has given much of hints about what makes the woman sorrowful. First of these is the apparent sickness brought by not being able to sleep. Second is her character. On a deeper note, we can assume that the sickness can be a fruit of her character such as selfishness as displayed by her character towards the girl and being overwhelmed with things as proven by her remarks against her own husband and child causing her inability to appreciate things. She was characterized as immature especially in the situation wherein her child accidentally ripped her flesh. She reacted in a very immature way of locking herself in the room. It made her child even more afraid. The woman was indeed sorrowful, as she was not able to appreciate what she had. The husband was characterized as loving, very much committed and understanding. He understood when his wife needed help in taking care of the child. He also understood the sickness of his wife, to the point that he had to do most of the household chores. He also submitted to his wife when the latter did not appreciate the presence of the girl, even though that meant waking up early in the morning to do shopping, cook breakfast and take the boy to the nursery school. In all these, he has shown faith and hope. He did not waiver in the belief that his wife will get better, that’s why he was willing to do all the sacrifice. He has shown his faithfulness by not abandoning his wife despite of her character and instead he has loved his wife more, giving her rest and inviting her often to a date, wherein he showered good and pleasant words to his wife. The man was simply an ideal man. The little boy was portrayed as sweet. He comforted his mother when she began to yelp and scream and he was not heard to complain about the inability of his mom to take care of him. Instead he missed her so that when his mom came back, he followed her through and played with her, until that incident when he accidentally ripped the flesh of his mom. He was also able to get along well with the girl as he would be in the girl’s room twice a day when he would tell of his day. At a very young age, the boy understood their situation. Lastly, the girl was also characterized as dynamic, bubbly, energetic and easy to get along well. These characters are supported by the narration that she made all the people laugh and was able to do a lot of home chores including painting the room, feeding the child, cleaned the mother’s coat, washing the mother’s hair and even dancing after she after reading the child to sleep. For the entire story, the characters are vividly described by the authors, both through explicit and implicit characterization. Explicit characterization was done through narration such as the description of the little girl, but for the most part of the story, implicit characterization was employed. The author’s style was so effective and balanced, making the story more realistic. The Story of an Hour This story is a tragic a tragic one. The author was able to highlight the characters based on how the story went. It was more tragic not because of what or how things happened, but because the characters simply made it happen. Mrs. Mallard is a wife and a person afflicted with heart trouble. The news of his husband being killed in the railroad disaster has actually revealed her characters which may have been the reasons for her sickness. Weak and emotional, that’s how the author has described Mrs. Mallard. She easily succumbed to despair upon the news of her husband’s death. Her weakness was proven by several instances in the story. The author said that, “she did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance”. Some would interpret this as the inability to accept a tragic moment in life, and that reveals a weak character. The author said that she was able to pour out her emotions, as she wept with abandonment in her sister’s arms, but he later withdrew to loneliness, allowing no one to follow her. This signifies the weakness to counter the emotions in order to do what is proper. It is of course a common knowledge that isolation makes the pain more intense, but she succumbed to melancholy. Instead of pouring out her sentiments to her sister or any of her friends, she opted to build walls against people and poured her emotions by herself, with no one to comfort her. She did not allow any person to enter her room until her dying moment. The author mainly used implicit characterization of the main character, Louise Mallard. Other characters such as the sister and the family friend Richards were also described well. The sister was loving and caring as she gave an arm for her sister to cry and she fervently knocked on the door to save her sister from illness, although she was late. Richards was narrated as tender friend and careful. He was careful to make sure that indeed it was their friend that been killed in the disaster. Although, he made a mistake in the end, this did not nullify his carefulness. The author used implicit characterization more heavily and it made the story more challenging to the readers yet more interesting to the readers. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. Godwin, Gail. A Sorrowful Woman. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. http://en.wikipedia.org. 5 April 2009. 7 April 2009 . Read More