Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such office, Nashville
Weather: 65 and spring rain
Do protagonists have greater appeal to readers if they are human, or is it more important that a character simply exhibit some human characteristics? Animal characters abound in children’s books. Beatrix Potter immortalized Peter Rabbit’s disobedience, and Wilbur the pig and Charlotte the spider certainly played out admirable human qualities of courage and sacrifice in E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web.
Writing animal characters in adult fiction is more challenging and is most often seen in short, humorous pieces, but occasionally they are developed well in bonafide novels. It’s hard not be caught up in the suspense and quest of the rabbit characters Hazel, Strawberry, Big Wig, etc. in Richard Adams’s 1975 book Watership Down.
What I notice among recent releases, especially those for teens, is a number of main characters who are quasi-human or aberrations of human behavior. Eternal by Cynthia Smith is a brand new book in which a Dallas teenager becomes a vampire while her guardian angel has been cast from heaven for revealing his angelic nature in an effort to save her. And of course there’s Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, just to name a couple.
It makes me wonder if authors create such characters in response to certain cultural dynamics or turmoil. Maybe, maybe not. Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame appeared early in his career before the French Revolution and his self-imposed exile. On the other hand, Bram Stoker created Dracula, one of the most famous vampire stories of all time, in 1897, and Stoker lived a relatively placid life in Britain at the height of the British Empire.
I’m just beginning to explore this subject. Any thoughts on why and what leads to interest in characters outside the norm?
I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit lately and still have many questions myself. I think the author is afforded a lot more “play” with an animal or semi-human character. You can infuse bits and pieces of several worlds into the character, making him or her more fantastic and interesting.
I think humans like these characters because we like adventure, we like to see what things would be like in another dimension, we like to explore and ask “what if?” I’ve just started to bend my mind around these thoughts. I’d love to hear what others have to say…
Jane, you raise an interesting point, i.e., escapism with imaginary characters into imaginary worlds. Some of us write quasi-human characters in real-life situations and some of us write science fiction in which the characters are true to life but the worlds they enter are not. At least, that’s my take at the moment.
Etta
I think that children (and children’s writers, like me) love animal characters in part because of the potential humor element. Think about the difference between bumping into a person vs. bumping into a porcupine! Or picture gorillas in pajamas, sipping tea. Animal characters behaving like humans open up a world of possibilities in children’s books. In books for older children, it’s intriguing to imagine what a rat city might be like, or what a dog would say to you if given the chance. Even in books for older children, a strong animal companion, like a dragon or bear, with some human characteristics makes a story more exciting.
Watership Down is one of my all-time favorite books!
Rebecca, I’d never thought about the humor connection with animal characters, but you’re so right. Children immediately get the humor of a giraffe in an Italian cafe ordering spaghetti, etc. Etta
Rebecca’s so right about the humor of animals but I also think that it’s possible to use the “stereotypes” of animals that are not as readily acceptable with humans. Skunks are stinky, turtles are slow, leopards have spots, and so on. You can present (or contrast) those preconceptions without as much explanation and so get the reader into the story much more quickly and deeply. Not that animal characters can be as complex and as richly developed but in a story under 500 words, it’s a helpful point.
Very interesting, Val, to think about animal stereotypes. I was just wondering about Babar the Elephant and Curious George and more recently the Pigeon on the Bus. To what extent are those animals stereotypes and to what extent do they create a stereotype for their species???
Etta