How to Write a Character Analysis

This is all you need to know to write a character analysis. It is also what teachers could/should be teaching for character analysis.

A strong character analysis will:

1. identify the type of character it is dealing with. (A single character could be two or three types. See “There are different types of characters” below.)
2. describe the character.
3. discuss the conflict in the story, particularly in regards to the character’s place in it.

This post is on how to identify the type of character the character analysis is dealing with. Another post will help describe the character. A third discusses the conflict in the story, particularly in regards to the character’s place in it.

There are different kinds of characters.

Characters can be

• protagonists (heroes), The main character around whom most of the work revolves.
• antagonists, The person who the protagonist is against. This is often the villain, but could be a force of nature, set of circumstances, an animal, etc.
• major, These are the main characters. They dominate the story. Often there are only one or two major characters.
• minor, These are the characters who help tell the major character’s tale by letting major characters interact and reveal their personalities, situations, stories. They are usually static (unchanging).
• dynamic (changing), See below under “Look at specific things.”
• static (unchanging),
• stereotypical (stock), This is the absent minded professor, the jolly fat person, the clueless blonde.
• foils, These are the people whose job is to contrast with the major character.  This can happen in two ways.  One: The foil can be the opposite of the major character, so the major’s virtues and strengths are that much “brighter” in reflection.  Two: The foil can be someone like the major character, with lite versions of the major’s virtues and strengths so that the major comes off as even stronger.
• round (3 dimensional), This means the character has more than one facet to their personality. They are not just a hardcore gamer, but they also play basketball on the weekends.
• flat (1 dimensional), This is the character who is only viewed through one side. This is the hardcore gamer. That’s all there is to the character.

Protagonists can follow literary patterns or types:

• the anti-hero (Holden Caufield), This is the guy your mother would not want you or your sister to date. They are often graceless, inept, and actually dishonest.
• the tragic hero (Oedipus, Macbeth), This is the guy whose bad end is a result of flaws within himself.
• the romantic hero (Don Juan, James Bond), This is the guy the girls all swoon over. He gets the girls, even when he doesn’t want to keep them.
• the modern hero (Chuck Bartowski), This is the average guy who is put in extraordinary circumstances and rises to the challenge.
• the Hemingway hero, This is the guy who has been in a war, drinks too much, gets his girlfriend pregnant, and she dies. Or guys like him.

 Also see another way to write a character analysis: a personnel review.

If this post was helpful to you, please leave a note in the comments to let me know. You could point out what was most helpful, so that I will know what I might want to expand later.