DIRECT vs. INDIRECT Characterization
Direct Characterization – when an author tells the reader
directly something about a character
e.g., Jenny is a generous person.
Indirect Characterization – when an author shows the reader
something about a character, either through actions, thoughts,
dialogue, or other characters’ viewpoints
e.g., Jenny spent all of her spare time volunteering in a soup
kitchen.
Paragraph Analyzing the Characterization of Hester Prynne:
An example of direct characterization occurs soon after Hester
ascends the scaffold. As the narrator describes her appearance, he
notes that she took after the “feminine gentility of those days;
characterized by a certain state and dignity” (37). Here, the
narrator directly tells the reader that Hester is a dignified woman
and carries herself with confidence. An example of indirect
characterization appears soon after when Hester is standing on
the scaffold. The narrator reveals that Hester “sustained herself as
best a woman might, under the heavy weight of a thousand
unrelenting eyes, all fastened upon her, and concentrated at her
bosom…[S]he had fortified herself to encounter the stings and
venomous stabs of public insult” (37). In this passage the reader
can infer that Hester is a strong woman who is not afraid to stand
up to other people and their judgments of her.