November 2004 English A1 Essay Outline

3b) “My characters are contradictory, not only in their language but in their behaviour as well.” Discuss the ways in which you see contradictions within individual characters as adding to the interest of fiction you have studied.

Two books for comparison: Siddhartha/ Huckleberry Finn

Beginning:
• Outline the question for the examiner- Show paradoxical actions which characters might do, or behaviour that is inconsistent with the portrayal of the character, or dialogue which the character says that is, again, inconsistent with his or her portrayal. This is a question mostly dealing with characterization and the credibility of the text compared to its intended setting.
• Demonstrate whether this “contradictions” are intended or otherwise; did the author have some purpose in creating those contradictions? What does it make you as the reader feel? This will help you score in personal response and interpretation.

This is an outline, it doesn’t have to be followed in this order, or with these points alone

Proposition/ Main Argument:
• For Siddhartha, analyse the central character, Siddhartha, with Kamala, Kamaswami, Vasudeva
• Siddhartha out-of-character moments:
-When he leaves his father the Brahmin to seek “Atman”; is that something that is typical or characteristic of the adolescent which Siddhartha is?
- When Siddhartha suffers in the forest in “samana training”; not even normal people have the threshold of pain which Siddhartha possesses, much less an adolescent.
- Siddhartha is able to initially disdain the profits and losses which he made under Vasudeva; is that characteristic of a normal person? Granted, he does fall under its sway later on, but his disregard for wealth and women (as seen in the beginning of “The Child People”) border on the extraordinary
- Siddhartha’s father makes him promise to return to him if he does not find enlightenment after he leaves his father; Siddhartha breaks this promise. As a man who seeks knowledge, as well as being the protagonist, we expect Siddhartha to honour his word in his quest for knowledge.
- Vasudeva seems to be able to foretell the future when he first ferries Siddhartha across the river; something out-of-character with a normal, poor boatman. By doing something even Siddhartha cannot do, Hesse hints to us that Vasudeva may be someone out of the ordinary
-Siddhartha’s attainment of enlightenment is something that borders on the supernatural; however, this point is not very relevant, and only serves as a not-so-good pointer if you cannot remember at least 4 of the points listed above.
• That’s not all- to get marks, you have to explain these and how they are relevant. Did the author intend for these contradictions? What is the effect of placing them here?
For Siddhartha, since there are not so many out-of-character moments, you only need to list a few of the points above; 3 to 5 points should suffice, plus whatever else you can think of. Nothing less than 3 if you want to get at least a 15 out of 25.

• In Huck Finn, write how the behaviour of Huck and Nigger Jim seem to be contrived, especially towards the end of the text.
• Remember that Twain is a horrible writer when it comes to plot; the contrived nature of his writing is certainly unintentional when we compare it to Hesse’s conscious craftsmanship.
• Focus on Huck and Jim, as most of the other characters are portrayed realistically; many critiques agree that this is the case, so focus on the main two
• Huck “loves nature” and hates humanly engineered artificial establishments. An example of this (use examples.. LOTS of examples) is organized religion, which Huck Finn rejects because of its hypocritical nature. Bring in the issue of the Shepherdsons and Grangerfords behaving like little kiddies- guns in church, even when “Colonel Grangerford was a gentleman” (chap 18); immature feud? Out of character behaviour
• The Duke and King are not able to see Huck’s real intentions, and they even “forgive” him, or ignore, his attempt to escape after the Mary-Jane incident where money was hidden in the coffin. This is not in character with their portrayal as cunning and evil men.
• One important thing to mention is how Huck regresses into being Tom Sawyer’s subordinate the moment Sawyer appears; when Sawyer leads Huck to rescue Jim, Sawyer issues the orders, while Huck follows him. This is something contradictory to Huck’s free spirit and leadership as experienced on the Mississippi river.
• Huck’s escape down the Mississippi River with Jim is ludicrous; why would Huck, the free spirit, who has initially negative impressions of black people (the incident of the steamboat accident where he mentioned to Aunt Sally “No, ma’am, killed a Nigger”), want to pair up with Jim in his quest to be free? Considering Huck’s cautious nature (he comes up with an alibi and an alias every time), it is surprising.
• Jim’s continued existence on the raft after Cairo is surprising, as he sails further and further South into Confederate territory (where slavery is practiced) rather than the Free States in the North. Looking at the map of the US, there is absolutely NO opportunity for Jim to escape slavery the moment he passes Cairo, the Southernmost Free State. Considering Jim left Miss Watson to avoid being sold in New Orleans, there is really absolutely NO NO NO reason for him to go down the Mississippi River once he has passed Cairo, Illinois. (You can make this the main thrust of your argument, it will probably raise your grade for interpretation and knowledge and understanding by one compared to someone who didn’t pick this up)
• Jim’s trust of Huck is something extremely out of character considering he is 1. an escapee 2. black 3. in an extreme state of nerves when he finds Huck (he initially believes Huck to be a ghost). Why did he not kill Huck in the first place? There is absolutely no reason for him to trust Huck; maybe because Huck is a child?
• If you can find any examples of dialogue, please add them in yourself; Huck Finn is a long and tedious text to quote.

Conclusion
Evaluate whether the contradictions were done with a purpose, or without. If it was done with a purpose, state how it has made you feel as a result, and how it has contributed to the book’s genre in bildungsroman. If it was done without a purpose, just write that it shows the author lacks skill in your opinion (this is the magic word); you won’t be penalized for this because IB is extremely open minded and may even award you marks for saying this. In conclusion, evaluate how the characters have been contradictory, and, again, show how it contributes.