Character Development

One expects to see such changes appearing in a novel, whose province
may be the whole of a life. Within the briefer limits of the Short-story, however, it would seem that only the stationary, the unchanged character might with success be handled.' The stationary character is more easily treated than the progressive. The portrayal of character change is, nevertheless, a legitimate field for the Short-story. If a change is sudden, one may grasp the moment of its occur¬rence as Stevenson has done in Markheim. Less than an hour probably elapsed between Markheim's killing of the dealer and the time when he gave himself up. Yet in this time Markheim passed his life in review and condemned it. Character development, however, generally takes place more gradually. In The Outcasts of Poker Flat, it takes six days to bring out the latent good of the charac¬ters. During this time of privation and danger the outcasts manifest what would otherwise have re¬mained unsuspected; their characters seem, As it were, to unfold. It is not actual growth that takes place; it is, nevertheless, real development. They are stronger men and women than they were when they left Poker Flat. Mrs. Knollys is less notice¬ably progressive. The change in her character is a maturing of what has been already seen; it is the change from a green to a fully ripened purple grape.
By development of character in a story one may mean two different things. One may refer to the actual change which takes place in a character; one may mean, on the other hand, the change in the reader's conception of a character from start to finish. Of course, one's idea of character, however, may or may not develop within the limits of the story.
Category:Character