Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-09-24

greatly In hunting ny these old com.
pi>@' ons There were dozens more or
mem, but nothing 10 my purpose.
And yet In the contemporary novels
'hat read. find unpleasant char
"rt"rs in plenty. | Will not mention
nom by name. partly for rp.r Of
offending, partly tor reasons which
VIII subsequently appear. For tho
question set myself 10 answer Was:
What Is the cause Of the difference?
The pnssimist would have q short
Way with II and declare that writer's
nowadays are but shadows ~ their
t"rcfathcrs. do not believe Il.
There Is plenty Of good writing he
Ing done IN 1922. and some Of {, IL
of society mat is often pictured in
modern novels seems rather more
suidid ,han II Mas In novels ~ NIFTY
~ a hundred years "ro. do not know
mat s"rdidn"ss Is Ia itself much
worse than Stiffness
fancy TIA" answer 10 -he question
t. less depressing. though perhaps
tat lcay, ia ats impljcati"u,D not
qGjt" SO slnpi". IN. root az ~. mat
ter seems 10 b" 'h.i w- d" not 70.
member really unpleasant char
aci"rs "" forget them not be
nam, "f passing ia. sp"u2" over
'ninES 80 Il" not car. 10 remember.
h!t simply h"'nus" au unpleasant
character VII" - UNPLEASANT; pre-
.'ui"d has ~" claim upun our mem
Dry II - tn" manner of pi"S.uta-
iiuu which Is vital " The writer
presents his unpleasant character
.r"at!v"is. inai j. with oam"ng ether
things Il sens" -! his iudivldualliy,
RS one ~ tho creatures OF tn. various
universe, IA" character Is ,rans-
figured
Naturally th"r. are NOR" unp,"as-
ant characters in m"d-ru fct!rn
'aaE In TIA" literature "" rcin"nh.r.
W remember only tn. minerals.
% h"r",s m"d"ru books az" only tn"
raw material az Immortality: they
contain unpleasant ,harHri"r- IN
pl-asautls pr.s r.t"d. w h"m "a" shall
forget. either n-"at!-" their authors
nav" NO "r"htty" power a. all. n.
because. has I'm. GREATLY. power thee
nav" turned il TO- b:,-- us"- aud nav
abandoned observation-disclosures 10
-ti.sfi some grUdg" they nav. con
c"i'"d against ne or humanity.
Th"s" wh" NAY. The h.bi, Or road
ing -uow 'h" feeling wh"u. in even
PEELED by an almost inaudibl. nm
d"rlpnc II snarlinr ard r"y"ntm"u,
In word. in rhrSs. mat Is uuly.
irr"h"e hly uciy in irscif they soc
le bout de loreilie qu pcrc.. and
sometimes have glimpse ~ much
more than INC tin 81 tn. ear. ~
whole row Of barred and auEr. fanss
tnp!easantncEs is an amhieuou. At
tribute. All Shakespeare IRREGULAR
hnmpri sts"-blssscd name for Bar
Golph Nyri and Pis,ol--would have
U""u unpleasant enough in litc. so
as charles Lamb admitted. would
many of Coucr"vo characters hu,
M tho world Of !itcratur. ,hcy arc
wonderful unpleasan, i'm life they
ar" pleasant much more than pleas.
ant. ~ hook because the minds Of
'h"Ir creators w"rked serenity tr..
II qu"tidian Limitation iiu, In
Wych"rIey. and s,!ll more in Smoilc,t
and surely also in Swifts picture
~ tn" Yahoos, We catch the fat.rul
MSS Of an evaporation beyond con.
troll. Their UnINeasant characters
ar" unpleasant. what "" have -
/" is 10 avoid confusing what IL an
pleasant in III" with what is un-
pleasant in literature. II is no; SO
difficult as IL sounds tor Greatly.
integrity IS much easier - discern
than TO define