A NOVEL CHARACTER
Posted by anthonynorth on March 27, 2008
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YOU KNOW IT’S THE WRITE WAY
A NOVEL CHARACTER
A good male character in a novel is not as novel as you think. Indeed, he seems to follow a simple path through the chapters. And rule number one has got to be, don’t make him nice.
Nice is yuck! Boring. Think of Pip in Great Expectations, and how boring a novel it would have been if Dickens hadn’t filled it with marvelous, eccentric, and deeply flawed personages.
The best characters are on the borderline between moral and not. Infact, much of the good novel is about how he copes with this contradiction, trying to do right, but so often failing.
And the crux of the novel is invariably about change.
This is why the character must be how he is. If he had a simple, straight-forward mentality, then there would be no doubts as to his actions. It is the doubt that makes the novel great.
If I had to pick a favourite character from a novel, it would have to be Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights - very bad, but very intriguing. But also set close to the place of my birth. Which makes him so - how can I put it - fictitious.
This most passionate of romantic heroes actually exists in one of the most down-to-earth, unromantic places and communities you could find. Indeed, the poem that follows is how it would really be.
(c) Anthony North, March 2008
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A YORKSHIRE PROPOSAL
‘Aye, noo, can thee tell me lass,
can thee clean, is wha’ I ask’
‘Aye,’ she says, ‘I’can de that,
an beat an sweep any ole mat’
‘an can thee cook, ar’s askin’ noo?’
‘Aye, a’can cook tatties and scraps and mek a good stew.’
‘An can thee do’t weshin, is what a’ mean?’
‘Well, aye; gimme’t watter a’can scrub tha’ weshin clean.’
‘Well promise me yan thing a’fore ‘itchin up.
If thee iver leaves me,
mak sure thee’s dun’t
weshin up.’
(c) Anthony North, March 2008
Any translations given in comments 
SOME OF MY RECENT POSTS
Happy Meal - A gentle short story and Pappa Razzi on women.
Money For Old Rope - A short story about business, plus TWAC on computer minds.
March 27, 2008 at 11:51 am
The only really boring character that comes to mind in a novel is Ashley in “Gone With the Wind”. He was pompous and flat. But always, the rough and gruff males are the best, most fascinating ones. (At least in novel land!)
And yes! Heathcliff is still one of my favourite novel males.
Gemma
March 27, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Excellent post. Your poem is so clever!
March 27, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Hi Gemma,
Yes, they’re only the best in novel land. They present rather more problems in real life, me thinks.
Hi Tumblewords,
Many thanks. Wasn’t sure whether this one would work, but I’m glad I tried it now
March 27, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Mine was also about a gruff Yorkshire man GRIN. I like this Anthony, but then I’m from up North (though over the border in Lancs)……sadly living down south now.
March 27, 2008 at 6:04 pm
oh i loved that… i am a sucker for anything in dialect.. and you did this so well!!!!!
March 27, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Hi Johemmant,
A neighbour! I lived most of my adult life in various places ‘down south’, but came home to my roots some four years ago. Can’t see myself leaving again.
Hi Paisley,
Thanks for that. First time I’ve tried dialect, except for the odd joke comment. Quite enjoyed it. Oh, and I don’t talk quite that bad
March 27, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Eh, bah gum bonny lad, nah yer talkin’!
March 27, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Hi Sweettalkingguy,
Dis’the think so? Well, thankya much
March 28, 2008 at 12:50 am
Dickens knew how to pen about quirky characters. Those made the books well worth reading.
creatures of eerie night
March 28, 2008 at 4:16 am
I like that poem, if not the proposal!
March 28, 2008 at 8:45 am
Good morning Gautami,
I love Dickens for the same reason. Those characters are great.
Hi Sister AE,
The longest running UK Sit Com is Last of the Summer Wine, set in Yorkshire, and showing clearly that the men never got away with their attitude
March 28, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I enjoyed your short essay.
I agree, with you: “A good male character in a novel is not as novel as you think. Indeed, he seems to follow a simple path through the chapters. And rule number one has got to be, don’t make him nice.”
A couple of my favorite male characters of all time are Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) and Rochester (Jane Eyre).
“Nice is yuck!” Nice guys usually finish last in novels anyhow
March 28, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Hi C Elizabeth,
Thanks for that. Only problem is, do people believe the fictional baddies are the way to be?
But that’s a different argument.
March 31, 2008 at 9:16 pm
I think baddies in fiction are more interesting to people as it’s a safe way to indulge in our own dark side. They also have cooler dialogue than the goodies XD. So too with anti heroes, they’re flawed, but do the right thing anyway - which is reassuring to all of us imperfect people.
March 31, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Oh, and Nora Batty was my heroine in childhood. Her chasing Compo away from her door with her broom always cracked me up…
March 31, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Hi Merrymoll,
I think you have a point there. We all have a dark side, even if it never shows, and it would attach to fictional characters. As for Nora Batty, now there’s an antidote to my poem.
The stereotypical Yorkshireman also had one hell of a woman to deal with at times
March 31, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Yes, Nora was the first thing that came to mind when I read the poem! Scowling from under her curlers and reaching for the broom… Quite a few Glaswegian men can commiserate with the poor Yorkshiremen - one of my grannies swore like a trooper. All the time.
As for baddies and antiheros, case in point - Gene Hunt from Life on Mars is deeply entertaining, especially next to the very P.C. Sam Tyler. Sexist, racist, you name it, but he’s the one we remember, because he’s also larger than life and extremely funny. And we laugh with an edge of guilt, because we know what he’s saying is mostly wrong, and we know that in our darker moments we may have thought something similar.
March 31, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Hi Merrymoll,
Gene Hunt is a good example, and I think we like him because he expresses such prejudices safely. By that I mean, he is larger than life, and there is a marvellous humour below the portrayal.
This is vital in a character. I don’t know if you watch it, but if you do, there is Max from Eastenders. Totally humourless, totally pathetic, and one of the most horrible characters on Brit TV in a long time. Thankfully, he’s now gone, but he made me cringe.
Yet, if you look at a character such as Doctor Who, underlying him is a total hedonism and amorality, but done with such panache that we can forgive anything and enjoy.
March 31, 2008 at 10:41 pm
I hear about Eastenders secondhand from my Mum (soap junkie, she watches both Corrie and Eastenders, and Brookside before it ended). He got buried alive, didn’t he? I find most of the characters totally humourless and boring on that show, and Corrie went downhill after Hilda Ogden left…
I haven’t seen Dr Who in *ages* - but I can see what you mean, especially with Captain Jack.
March 31, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Hi Merrymoll,
Yes, Capt Jack is of a similar vein - marvellous character. I confess to watching Corrie and Eastenders, although I think Corrie has managed to succeed still with its humour. Eastenders doesn’t know what that word means, however.