Characters in books
mirror real life people. We all have our own individual idiosyncrasies, flaws,
shortcomings and insecurities. So it’s nothing unusual if characters reflect
these traits. Actually this quality (Imperfection) makes a character more real.
Readers find it easy to identify with someone who is imperfect. Someone who
makes mistakes, is swayed by emotions, is prone to mood swings is more
real than a character who is calm and unruffled and who never makes
mistakes. Though we look up to perfect people, they do give us a temporary
sense of insecurity. We feel small in front of them. We may even secretly
and subtly resent their perfection and larger than life image. But it’s the
imperfect characters we bond with. In their presence we revel in our own
imperfections.
Have you all noticed that
more and more often our protagonists lead imperfect lives. As the story
unfolds, these imperfect characters leading imperfect lives try to resolve the
conflict by tackling their own personal imperfections first.
Aristotle called it
Hamartia, which was seen as a character flaw. This character flaw can be a
limitation, a problem, a phobia, or a deficiency present in a character who is
otherwise quite normal. The character flaw may be a violent temper that may
turn out to affect the character’s actions, abilities, or interactions with
other characters. Sometimes it can be a simple personality defect which only
has effect on the character’s motives and social interaction and nothing else.
Flaws or imperfection add
depth and humanity to the characters in a narrative. For eg the mayor with a penchant
for gambling, the hero with claustrophobia, the heroine with an alcohol
problem. One of the most famous example is ‘ Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr
Hyde.’
Character flaws can be slotted into three categories.
Minor Flaws
make the characters memorable in reader’s mind, these give the character
individuality, but other than that they do not affect the story in any way.
They can be a scar, an accent, biting the lower lip, twirling the moustache, a
girl constantly flinging her hair back. A protagonist can have several minor
flaws, each having no effect on the plot.
Major Flaws
are noticeable and important. They affect the individual physically, mentally,
emotionally, morally or spiritually. Major flaws are not necessarily negative :
they can be rigid religious beliefs or a strict adherence to a certain
lifestyle. Major flaws like: greed, blindness, deafness, lust, often hamper and
restrict the character in one way or the other. The major flaw is important for
the character’s personal development and the story. Heroes and heroines must
overcome their own major flaws either partially or completely, either
temporarily or permanently, at some point in the story, very often by the
climax, by sheer determination or skill to be able to solve the larger problem
at hand. For a villain his major flaw is frequently the cause of his downfall.
The protagonist’s major flaw defines the core problem, the entire journey to
remedy this problem forms the firm backbone of the story, sometimes prodding
the plot forward.
The last flaw is the Tragic
Flaw, it’s the cause of the character’s downfall and eventual death.
Tragic Flaw arises out of the character’s misplaced trust in another character,
an excessive amount of curiousity that sucks him into problems, pride that
plunges him into a world of loneliness. The fall that often arises out of the
Tragic Flaw occurs at the beginning of a story.
Do you like perfect
characters? Or Imperfection is the new perfection for you? What kind of
character flaws do your characters have?
