9/25 TKAM Question 1:
Literary characters are considered to be “flat” when they are presented by the author as one-sided and unchanging, behaving in ways that are predictable. Characters are considered “round” when they are depicted as having greater complexity and depth , some weaknesses and some strengths, and a wide range of human emotions. Which characters in TKAM strike you as being more “flat” or more “round”? Why might an author create flat characters in a given work? Are the minor characters in TKAM – Maudie, Dubose, Calpurnia, Aunt Alexandra, Miss Caroline (teacher) Sheriff Tate, and others – one dimensional or do some have “round” qualitites? You do not have to answer all the above questions and you may either answer my question or comment on another student’s post.
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I believe authors create flat characters in a story to build interesting realtionships with characters that are round. This makes the story more intesne and this makes you read on wondering when the flat character is going to come back or what the flat character is going to do next and trying to guess their actions while still thinking about how the round character is feeling. Dill and Scout is a perfect example seeing as Dill is flat and Scout is round. Dill is not always there in the story becuase he goes away for the summer and this leaves Scout is dismay. The story revovles around Scout and her relationships with other people, and even though Dill is a flat character, he is her fiancé which makes the story that much more intersting and makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens between the two of them.
I believe that both “round” and “flat” characters are used by authors for specific reasons. Though “flat” characters are seen less and change less over the course of the book, they are important, because their purpose in the story is chiefly to enhance the “roundness” of more major characters. For example, though Miss Caroline is quite predictable and acts similarly every time we see her, she plays a large role in revealing Scouts feelings about school and also, quite possibly, the author’s own opinion of the education of that era. In the same way, Aunt Alexandra’s more “flat” character helps develop Scout’s character, bringing attention to her tom boy-ish tendencies and her inner conflict over obeying versus defending her father.
In contrast, Scout and Jem, two of the several major characters, seem to have more “round” qualities. One of these qualities would be Scout’s wide variety of emotions. From her intense dislike of school, to her curiousness and excitement over Boo’s gifts, to her passionate anger in the defense of her father, we have seen several different sides of her. Jem is also a complex character – even in the first portion of the book, we have seen him change and mature as he has grown older. Though he used to hang out with his sister most of the time, Jem has slowly began to play with Dill more, leaving Scout out. In addition, he has seemed to gain more respect for his father, realizing that Atticus must have had a reason for keeping his shooting abilities a secret and advising Scout not to say anything.
Generally, the “rounder” characters are the more major characters of the story – the ones whom the book follows the most closely. Though characters like Miss Caroline and Aunt Alexandra are more “flat” and have not developed as much, they are important to the balance of the story, making important points without taking the focus off of the main characters.
Not all of the characters are flat. I free that the most round characters in the book are Jem, Scout and Dill. Most of the other characters are between round and flat. I don’t think that the book would be as good if all the characters ate round because then it would be too confusing. If all of the characters are flat then the book would be boring and really short because there would not be as much information and the book would be not as intresting because you would not get to know any characters in details.
The “round” characters presented in the novel so far would be Atticus, Scout, and Jem. They have been the most frequent names since the beginning of the book, and we already know a lot about them. Atticus has many duties in Maycomb, and he is a very nice man. He is the main lawyer and everyone knows who he is. Scout is the little girl who is smart, picks fights, and pretty much is always thinking. Reading the novel, you know a lot about Scout in just the first few pages. Jem has many different emotions, and is told a lot about him just like Scout. Those three characters have details in every place they go. There is information about their home life, school life, and their free time life. The story is revolving around them, which is why it makes them “round”. The “flat” characters would have to be the ones that the novel does not portray a lot about. Boo Radley and Miss Caroline would be a good example of “flat”. For instance, Boo Radley is mentioned, but you don’t really know much about him. The story tells a little about his background, but not detailed enough like the Finch’s. As for Miss Caroline, the story only tells you about her teaching life, never does it take off into her home life, or her social life. That is why those characters would be considered “flat”.
I think Harper Lee includes flat characters to give her round characters more dimension in comparison. The main characters would not seem so complex if every other person in Maycomb county was as detailed. Round characters give the story definition. They are what we remember after the book is closed, not even the main message always stays with us. However, minor characters are very important. They give new opinions and create conflicts for the man characters to reflect on and overcome. The lesser known people in this story still play a sizeable role, such as Miss Caroline. We as the audience don’t know much about her but she proves her importance in the story by terrorizing Scout for her ability to read. I believe that Mrs. DuBose is not necessarily a flat character. She shows emotion, internal conflict, a nasty attitude, and she definately shows her weaknesses and strengths. In the end of Part One, Mrs. DuBose had become a part of the kid’s lives, and her death seemed to effect them below the surface.
When I think of a “flat character” I think of something plain without very much detail. For example Boo Radley is a flat character because we don’t know very much about him. On the other hand Scout, Jem, and Atticus would be considered “round characters” because you get to find out all about them and see the many different sides to them.
A round figure and a flat figure are different in dimensions. A round figure has a higher dimension meaning there is more too it. So a round character will have more you can find out about it then a flat figure. Atticus in my opinion is the most round figure because there is so much about him we have not found out about him. We were pretty suprised to find out about his nick name “One shot Finch”. Who knows what we could find out next? As I said said before Boo is the msot flat character because he is very reserved and we know little about him up until this point.
I think an author creates “flat” characters in order to have the story’s more dynamic characters bounce actions off of them which in turn makes the main characters deeper. Using flat characters allows them to do this without having to expand on a long tangent about the character, what it does is it lets them just put someone into the story with basic traits that work together to puff up triats of the main character.
I think that many of the minor characters are “flat” but definitely not all of them. Ms. Dubose for example, was shown as a mean old woman who would always yell at Jem and Scout, and mock them. After she died however we learned that she was fighting an addiction to morphine, which shows how strong she had to be. She also gave Jem a gift for reading to her. She changed from a angry and weak, to a strong willed, kind hearted woman. I think that authors add flat characters to exploit them and show you the “roundness” of some of the main characters.
Not all of the minor characters in the book are flat. When Ms. Maudie’s house burns down you get more of an insight into how her mind works, and you see that she is strong. Also the way she connects with Jem ans Scout helps to show her “round” characteristics. Calpurnia is another example of a”round” minor character. In the beginning it is not seen as much, but as the story progresses you see the care and emotional connection she has to the Finch family. When scout asks why she talks differntly at church than with them you also see some comlpexity in her actions. On the other hand Aunt Alexandra is a “flat” character. For her everything is nly on the extreme ends there is no middle ground or compromise. She has her way of thinking and it must always be right. That does not change at all.
Most authors chose to have a variety of both “flat” and “round” characters because it makes the story more interesting. Having only a few major characters does not give an author a lot of options from which to create plots and conflicts. By adding in characters that are flat, while they may have little depth, they can still be used to create conflicts between the main characters that are round or create interpersonal conflicts within the main characters. Flat characters are vital for a story to be able to have many different, smaller plots going on simultaneously so that the main conflict will not bore the reader.
While so of the minor characters, up to the point of our reading, are flat, including Sheriff Tate and Calpurnia, others have some round qualities. for example, Miss Caroline, while only in one chapter of the book, was shown to have some depth in her self consciousness of not knowing the ways of Maycomb County and having to be told of them by a six year old. In order to keep her pride, she rapped Scout with a ruler as punishment for trying to clear up an misunderstanding. This small scene shows some of the internal conflicts Miss Caroline must be having as an outsider in the town. Also, Miss Maudie started out as a flat character as she only provided Scout with a female figure to talk to and become friends with but as the book has progressed, we have seen more depth in Miss Maudie. She has shown her compassion for such misunderstood characters as Nathan “Boo” Radley when she tells Scout not to call him Boo but rather Mr. Nathan. While most minor characters are present in order to aid in the growth of main characters, like Mrs. Dubose for Jem and Scout, others contain their own minor story-lines as well.
In TKAM there are a variety of “round” and “flat” characters that the author expresses. The main reason an author presents flat characters in a story is because they want the main characters to pop out and the reader to take immediate notice of them. If all the characters in the story, like Miss Maudie, Miss Caroline and Calpurnia, had every single thing told about them, we would not be able to distinguish the “round” characters. There would be no comparison against the “flat” characters and as a reader, we would be confused of who had an impact on the story or not. It would become tedious with the overwhelming details of each character and the story line might not be as strong. The “flat” characters are for us to be imaginative of what they are like and helps add to the story.
Some characters form TKAM that I would consider to be “round” are Jem, Scout, Dill, and Atticus. I would consider them to be round because they have many different sides that we can see. I think Harper Lee portrays characters like Miss Maudie, Mrs. Dubose, and Calprunia as “flat” characters to keep some kind of constant. I think that an author would make different “flat” characters to show the different sides of the “round”, or usually the main, characters. For example, Calprunia brings out a different side of Jem and Scout than Mrs. Dubose does.
I think that Atticus and Boo Radley and scout are the most “round” characters because we know secretly alot about there personalities underneath. i think there still a lot of mystery about all of them. there very complex and mysterious human beings. All filled with highly intelligent thoughts or wisdom. some of the “flat” characters are Boo Radley’s dad
and his brother Nathan. also Mrs. Dubose there all flat characters because there not really because they haven’t really changed in the book there like either grumpy and mean like Mrs. Dubose or very private nasty and controlling. non of them really changed always one sided except for Mrs. Dubose when she comes clean of a addiction. that shows her round side over her more complex side and the weaknesses she had to overcome to die free. Mrs. Maudie’s is a little tricky though because i think as nice as she is and trustworthy and respectful (a wide range of human emotions) comes into play. however i still think she’s a flat character because the nice side respectful and fun to be around is still one side and kind of and she hasn’t chaged much from being nice then all of a sudden being incredibly mean or depressed and she is always going to be predictable because everyday the kids know she’s going to be nice.
An author might make flat characters in a book because they need some characters that you are able to read and predict. Other characters reflect off them and they are used to create background to the story with out adding too much complexity and depth. Round characters are important because they are the characters we follow in a story. We can see them grow in a story and change as the plot progresses. Most minor characters are one dimensional, but others seem round to me. I think Miss Maudie is round because you know she loves to garden but you don’t always see that she loves it so much she would give up her house to have a bigger backyard. Another perfect example of a minor character with round qualities was Mrs. Dubose. For the short time she was in the novel we learned a lot about her. At first she was portrayed as an evil old lady who hated the young children, people, and the world in general. She proves to be a round character when we learn that she is struggling with an addiction to morphine. In To Kill a Mocking Bird Jem, Scout, and Boo Radley are definitely round and some flat characters are their cousin who Scout beats up and their Uncle Jack.
Characters that I believe are “round” are Atticus, Jem, and Scout. Those being the main characters we get to see the complexity and depth of each one of them. The minor characters like; Maudie, Dubose, Calpurnia, are “flat” because they are not a big influence in the story. In some of the characters like Dubose, we can see her traits, but knowing what the story is about I portray her as a “flat” character. I think the “flat” characters were created because the interaction of the two “flat” and “round” characters helps to better see the major characters weaknesses, strengths, complexity, and depth.
In my opinion, Jem is a round character in To Kill a Mocking Bird. He comes off as a regular boy, doing boy things, getting into trouble, the whole “risky boy behavior” but he is more complex then led on to be. Deep down Jem is very emotional, and day by day he runs into different situations he has to face. So far you can see a change happening with Jem. We’ve seen his strengths, for example facing his fear of Mrs. Dubose and reading to her and being a good role model towards Scout. We’ve also seen his weaknesses for example, when talking about his father and using the N word, you can see how much it bothers Jem. He definitely is not a predictable character. He is busy struggling growing up, taking care of Scout and when Atticus is around, he is just trying to please him. He has a lot on his plate which makes him a round character. Jem has a lot of different emotions that are shown throughout this novel.