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Exploring the Many Faces of Character Analysis Essay: Complexities & Contradictions

Being a student of literature, you might wonder why we don’t see the story as it is. Well, if that happens, there won’t be any differentiation of characters, stories, or even authors.

Moreover, you won’t be able to develop your own perspective toward the character or the story itself.

That’s why there are academic tasks like writing character analysis essay, where you need to dig in depth towards the types of character or a character’s traits and discuss the different layers.

However, before you wonder how to write a character analysis essay, you must learn to look beyond what’s written in the text.

Your conscience may be inclined towards the power of Professor Dumbledore, but your analysis should be on whether he carried the traits of a hero.

Now there are many such twists that you will encounter when preparing your character analysis essay. But, to give a precise explanation, this blog will guide you into the two most challenging levels in any character analysis essay – The complexities & contradictions.

So read on to find more!

INSIGHTS INTO THE COMPLEXITIES

If you go through a character analysis essay example, you will see that the character has been discussed with the context of his journey from how he was to the influences that made him the lead as a protagonist or an antagonist.

Furthermore, here are a few things that you can discuss in your character analysis essay –

  • Roots of the Character’s Personality

First, you will explore where it started from. Without this, you won’t find a way to create your student essay writing outline.

Now, the ‘roots’ here means the history or the base on which the character holds its early times. For example, in the beginning, Harry Potter is shown as an ordinary kid who lives with his aunt but is not given the same love and care as his cousin Dudley.

Harry is shown a life of no expectations but only a life of mercy. All these make the character more particular that there is no hope of getting love but only surviving.

These are what make the personality of Harry Potter more of a simple child with no bigger dreams.

  • Understanding the Psychological Makeup

What’s the first word that comes to mind when you hear about the character ‘Professor Snape’? Does ‘angry,’ ‘rude,’ ‘cold,’ ‘bitter,’ etc. sound familiar to him? Well, then, these are the elements that form the psychological makeup of this character.

But it doesn’t end here. You must study how Snape has been different to the different characters, like his direct sarcasm towards Harry Potter but his partial mentorship of Draco Malfoy.

You must also discuss why Snape is always in a different opinion regarding Harry Potter. Is he trying to protect him from the Dark Lord?

Moreover, the points that irk Snape are what you can highlight in this section.

  • The Mistake of Choosing a Character with a Lesser Role

You cannot write about a character that’s played in the story for a brief time.

For example, you might want to write about Cedric Diggory, but his role is a short one since he dies an early tragic death.

His entire role in the Harry Potter series is from when he participated in the Triwizard Tournament and gives his life in the aftermath of Voldemort’s dark conspiracy.

But you can choose the character of Hermione Granger, a role that shares spotlight with the protagonist in every plot of Harry Potter stories.

  • Heroism and Moral Values

While talking about the character, you will surely notice how gradually the character changes from nothing to someone who is admired and expected to be at the top.

For this, I am once again taking the example of the protagonist ‘Harry Potter’ who fearlessly overcomes many challenges throughout his education at Hogwarts. But what’s more important to look for is how Harry Potter avoided all the temptations and chose to be with his friends and not leave them behind.

One brilliant example can be how he fought Nagina to rescue Ginny Weasley.

You can also talk about whether the character has any sense of being humble. On that note, let’s see how the bond between Harry Potter and Dobby changed throughout the series.

Later, you can see Harry tricked Lucius Malfoy into giving Dobby a sock.

By all these, I mean to say Harry Potter has the elements of using his magic to save the good because his morals say so. And this has been in him since the beginning, but he could show it with his magic skills.

 

INSIGHTS INTO THE CONTRADICTIONS

Do you sometimes find it difficult to believe how a character’s trait could change towards the end? Well, this is one aspect of what consists of the contradiction in a protagonist or an antagonist.

Let’s understand them through these points –

  • The shift of the Character’s Personality

At the beginning of the Harry Potter series, you might find the character of Ginny Weasley less spoken about. In fact, Ginny was the only daughter of the Weasley, yet she and Ron were not put together in the same set.

But later, you will find the character Ginny Weasley to be strong, independent, and straightforward. In fact, growing up along with her brothers helped her to be tougher.

These are some instances of how a character can change for better or worse in a story that may go beyond your expectations.

  • Lesser Similarity of the Character from the Start to End

Before I start explaining this section, you must note that the previous point and this have no similarities.

Now, let’s focus on this example.

If you look at the protagonist Harry Potter from the start, you will see how he does not believe in magic and has less confidence in himself to do something great.

But things gradually change when he and Ron fight the troll to save Hermione.

Another instance can be the part where the character tries hard to bring happy memories as a recollection to perform ‘Expecto Patronum’ to fight against the dementors, while earlier, Harry was just a silly boy who knew less about any spell talked about.

 

  • Character Transformation While In an Adventure

Lastly comes the part where you need to talk about how the character turned into.

Throughout the story, you can analyze one factor – Even though Harry is treated as an ordinary kid, he never gave up.

He exemplified that you can endure the most trying circumstances, recover, and succeed.

Final Words,

Analyzing a character is a difficult assignment, yet it can be exciting if you know where to begin. Moreover, there will be circumstances where you will get confused between being partial about your character or writing only based on logic.

Hence, this blog is your apt guide to look for the areas where you need to gaze your eyes on.

Author Bio – Amanda Jordan has a PhD in English Literature, based in New York. She is also associated with the academic brand My Assignment Help where she provides guidance on character analysis essays. Apart from that, Amanda loves to play tennis.