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Essay / Comparison of Characterization in Alias Grace, Their Eyes...
Characterization in Alias Grace, Their Eyes Were Watching God and Fools CrowAlias Grace by Margaret Atwood is a novel where the main character Grace is a sort of mysterious character. Ultimately, she is at peace, but many questions about her still remain unanswered. Because Atwood's writing style is informative, but unclear at the same time, the audience is left to put together the pieces of the puzzle that is Grace on their own. This leaves the reader guessing about his character. Two other works that contrast with the characterization of Grace Atwood's uses in Alias Grace are Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and Fools Crow in Fools Crow by James Welch. The characterization used by the authors in these three novels determines how well the reader will get to know the main characters in terms of emotion. Characterization is one of the main components of writing a novel. Most of the time, in a novel, the main character's attributes are well known. By the time you finish the novel, you feel like you know everything there is to know about this person. In the case of Alias Grace, Atwood leaves more questions about Grace's character than is answered. It seems that the more you learn about his life, the more mysterious it becomes. It's the reader's job to take what we know about Grace and piece it together as best they can. In a review of the book, David Wiley states, “What turns out is that no one will ever know Grace” (Wiley 3). Her personality is never fully revealed and the reader is left wondering who she is. One character, Dr. Jordan, never discovers anything new about her personality unlike all the other doctors who have evaluated her before. She t...... middle of article ......statement: The characterization used by the authors in these three novels determines the extent to which readers will get to know the main characters in terms of emotion.I . Characterization of GraceA. What role does characterization playB. How well the reader gets to know GraceII. Characterization of JanieA. Development of JanieB by Hurston. What the reader learns about JanieIII. Contrast of Janie and GraceA. What makes the two characters differentB. Contrasting views on love and marriageIV. Characterization of CrowA boobies. Transformation carried out by his characterB. How his character developsV. Contrast of Fools Crow and GraceA. Difference in the emotions of the two charactersB. Reaction (emotional) to different situations