Writers use different ways in their narrations so
that they can enrich their literary works. Two of these ways are
characterization and focalization. Characterization is an act in which a
character’s physical appearance and personality are described. Moreover, how a
character acts, thinks, or speaks can enrich characterization. There are two
types of characterization, direct (characterization through telling), and
indirect (characterization through showing). Straightforwardly using language,
a writer or another character in the same narration can tell features of a
character, which is the direct way of characterization. However, a writer can
also use a subtler way to introduce a character in a narration, which is the
indirect way of characterization. In this way of characterization, a writer
uses a character’s own thoughts, manners, speeches, and so on for showing the
features of that character. In narration, indirect characterization requires
more active engagement than direct characterization because readers have to
deduce what a character looks like by looking at her/his thoughts, manners,
speeches, and so on. Focalization is the perspective through which a writer
introduces his/her narration. There are two types of focalization, internal and
external. Characters’ inner worlds, feelings, and thoughts are concentrated in
internal focalization, which provides readers with a subjective perspective. In
external focalization, on the other hand, external facts of characters and
events are visible to everyone, and this provides a more objective perspective.
In two short stories, The Necklace by Maupassant and The Hand Puppet by J. C.
Oates, we see similarities and differences in terms of characterization and
focalization.
DIFFERENCES IN CHARACTERS’ PERSONALITIES
Firstly, when we examine both works,
we see that there are some similarities regarding the characters’
personalities. The main characters are women who are not happy and have
problems in their lives. Even if their sufferings are not the same, they both
wish they had different lives. Mathilde Loisel, from The Necklace, would like
to have more luxury in her life as she desires a high-status life. She is not
satisfied with her modest way of living. This can be inferred from “She
suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury.”
(pg.1, par.3), and “She suffered from the poverty of her dwelling, from
the worn walls, the abraded chairs, the ugliness of the stuffs.”
(pg.1, par.3). When we enter Lorraine Lake’s world, in The Hand Puppet, we see
that she is under a heavy burden due to her identity crisis. As a mother and a
wife, she spends a dull life — which isn’t, of course, what she wants.
Moreover, she has problems with her daughter, Tippi. Apparently, they aren’t
able to communicate well. This can be supported by “Lorraine asked, with
her bright, eager smile, “But is it a project? Are you taking it to school?”
(pg.6), and “No, Mom. It isn’t a project.” Her lips twisted
scornfully. ‘And I’m not taking it to dumb old school, don’t worry.” Lorraine
protested, “Tippi, I wasn’t worried. I was just-” She hesitated over the word
“concerned.” Saying instead, “-curious.” (pg.6). Also, Lorraine doesn’t
know much about her daughter as it can be seen in Lorraine’s stream of
consciousness on page 5, “How had the child, practising in secret, grown
so adept? So quickly?”, she is unaware of her daughter’s gift.
Yet this doesn’t mean that Lorraine doesn’t like being her mother, indeed, she
loves her daughter, and loves being her mother — as on page 5, “I don’t
want my daughter to be left behind, Lorraine Lake thought. I don’t want my
daughter to be unhappy.” These two desperate women, Mathilde and
Lorraine, struggle to have a different way of living and overcome all difficulties
they experience. Wishing to have high standards of living, Mathilde always
wants more luxury in her life. When she and her husband are to join an
invitation, she buys an expensive dress and rejects to wear some plain natural
flowers as jewellery since she finds it humiliating, as supported on page 2,
par. 37, “No; there’s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a
lot of rich women.” Then she borrows a diamond necklace from her
wealthy friend, which ends up badly. When we have a look at Lorraine’s
struggle, it can be seen that she tries to overcome her identity crisis — which
is about being a mother and a wife or being more than these two identities.
Even though she thinks being a mother and a wife are traps for her true
personality, she says to herself, “I do these things because I am the
mother. Because I am the mother, I do these things.” (pg. 4) as
if she accepts her fate. She chooses to accept her fate and be a “mother”
because she might think that choosing one side rather than being in limbo helps
to overcome her crisis. These two women have difficulties in their lives, and
they both try to overcome these difficulties; however, things end up in a way
that makes Mathilde and Lorraine much desperate.
CHARACTERIZATION PROCESS AND FOCALIZATION
Secondly, when it comes to
differences, we see different preferences in the characterization process and
focalization. While reading The Hand Puppet, readers have to carefully observe
characters’ speeches, and manners, and make inferences from them since the
characterization is generally done through showing — as on page 4, “I am
the mother, Lorraine Lake was thinking. I am not “Missus”!” When
we read this, we can infer that Lorraine, who is in search of an identity,
tries to make her identity clear, and also, she tries to gain authority.
Another example on pages 7–8,
“It was not
possible to believe that Tippi had said such things. That she’d been able to
disguise her thin, childish voice so effectively, and “throw” it into the
puppet. That she’d had the manual skills to create the puppet, let alone the
concept. No, it just wasn’t possible. Someone else, an older student, perhaps a
teacher, had put her up to it. I know my daughter, Lorraine thought.” (pg. 7–8)
we see Lorraine’s thoughts from
which we can infer she is unaware of her daughter’s gift, and how baffled she
is. When Lorraine sees Tippi bullying a child with her hand puppet in the
schoolyard, she thinks “No, it’s harmless, just a game. Tippi gets
carried away by games.” (pg.13) which proves that she doesn’t
know much about her daughter, and she denies the situation instead of facing
the truth. In The Necklace, however, readers can easily figure out what
characters look like and what kind of personalities they have without much
engagement with the narration since the characterization is generally done
through telling. As voiced by the writer in “She suffered intensely,
feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury.” (pg.1,
par.3), and “she was thinking of exquisite dishes, served in marvellous
platters, of compliment whispered and heard with a sphinx-like smile, while she
was eating the rosy flesh of a trout or the wings of a quail.” (pg.1,
par.4) we can easily understand that Mathilde isn’t happy with her modest life,
and she wants to lead a luxurious one. When Mathilde is in the ballroom, we see
her state of euphoria, which is described directly by the writer.
“She danced
with delight, with passion, intoxicated with pleasure, thinking of nothing, in
the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of
happiness made up of all these tributes, of all the admirations, of all these
awakened desires, of this victory so complete and so sweet to a woman’s heart.”
(pg.3, par.54)
In The Hand Puppet, focalization is
mostly internal, which allows readers to get closer to the characters. The
writer uses a lot of free direct discourses in the narration. For example, on
page 4, it starts as a direct discourse, then it becomes a free direct one, “It
was deliberate, she thought. Premeditated. Because I’m alone. She would never
have done that to her father.” Also, on page 13, there is an
example of free direct thought of Lorraine, “No, it’s harmless, just a
game. Tippi gets carried away by games.” Furthermore, it is
difficult to understand whether some thoughts in the narration belong to a
character or the writer — as on page 12, “How gregarious these children
were!”, “Were any of those girls Tippi’s friends? — did any of them even
know Tippi Lake? — or care about her?”, and “was it the hand
puppet?”. At first, these seem ambiguous, yet when they are carefully
examined along with the whole page, it can be said that they are likely to be
Lorraine’s stream of consciousness. Obviously, thoughts/speeches in The Hand
Puppet are rarely — sometimes they’re not at all — filtered by the narrator,
which makes characters closer to readers. On the contrary, focalization is
mainly external in The Necklace, which means that only external facts about
characters and events can be seen. As on page 3, par. 62, “But suddenly
she gave a cry. She no longer had the necklace around her throat!”
readers can’t access Mathilde’s mind since the writer presents that event
as how it is seen from the outside. Also, on page 4, par. 82, readers are
presented with external facts of Mathilde’s state. “She waited all day,
in the same dazed state in face of this horrible disaster.” Moreover,
we can see the use of direct speeches as characters have a conversation with
each other in the narration.
IN BRIEF
The Necklace and The Hand Puppet
have similarities regarding their main characters. They are both women who have
difficulties in their lives and want to lead a different life. When it comes to
characterization, in The Hand Puppet characters’ inner worlds are delivered
through their own words, and thoughts, which makes readers more engaged with
the narration. However, in The Necklace readers observe characters’ inner
worlds through the writer’s own voice, and thus the writer keeps the
characters' distance from readers. It can be said that narration in The Hand
Puppet is internally focalized, and this provides readers with the characters’
own perspectives. It is easy for readers to get closer to the characters in The
Hand Puppet. Also, it is easy for readers to get closer to the characters in
this work. Yet this is not the case for The Necklace. Focalization is done
externally in the work, and this makes only external facts of characters and
events visible to readers. There are not any free discourses in The Necklace,
which limits being closer to characters.
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