Comparing Characterization in Alias Grace, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Fools Crow

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Characterization in Alias Grace, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Fools Crow

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood is a novel where the main character Grace is a sort of mystery character. In the end she is at peace, but there are still many questions about her left unanswered. Because Atwood's style of writing is informative, yet unclear at the same time, the audience is left to put the pieces of the puzzle that is Grace together themselves. This leaves the reader guessing about her character. Two other works that contrast the characterization of Grace Atwood 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 the authors use 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 attributes of the main character are well known. By the time you've finished the novel, you feel as if you know all that there is to know about that person. In the case of Alias Grace, Atwood leaves more to questions about Grace's character than are answered. It seems as if the more you learn about her life, the more of a mystery she becomes. It is the reader's job to take what is known about Grace and piece her together the best she can. In a review of the book, David Wiley states, "What unfolds is that no one will ever know Grace" (Wiley 3). Her personality is never totally revealed, and the reader is left wondering who she is. One character, Dr. Jordan never finds out anything new about her personality than any of the other doctors who evaluated her before did. She t...

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...statement: The characterization the authors use in these three novels determines how well the readers will get to know the main characters in terms of emotion.

I. Characterization of Grace

A. What role characterization plays

B. How well the reader gets to know Grace

II. Characterization of Janie

A. Hurston's development of Janie

B. What the reader learns about Janie

III. Contrast of Janie and Grace

A. What makes the two characters different

B. Contrasting views on love and marriage

IV. Characterization of Fools Crow

A. Transformation made by his character

B. How his character is developed

V. Contrast of Fools Crow and Grace

A. Difference in the two character's emotions

B. Reaction (emotionally) to different situations

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