Have you ever met a fictional character who turned out to be very different from what that character first appeared to be? We often refer to them as shapeshifters because of how they can change. Or we may call them unreliable narrators because although they appear to be telling the truth, they really can’t be trusted.
Sometimes they’re just someone with a secret, possibly a very dark secret. An author may hint at who a character is right away, then bring us along slowly, showing us a new facet of personality with each new chapter.
Other times, the author and character conspire to fool us. I can think of a few famous stories where characters were not what they claimed to be. Some of those characters surprised and even shocked me. And I loved it!
Take for example Rebecca, the deceased wife of Max de Winter, and off-stage star of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. When the second Mrs. de Winter arrives at her husband’s mansion, Manderley, she finds herself unsure and unsettled as everywhere she turns traces of Rebecca remain. Unlike our new bride, Rebecca was perfect.
But as we get further into the story, we begin to sense that maybe Rebecca wasn’t as perfect as her devoted maid Mrs. Danvers wants the newcomer and us, the readers, to think. The story offers twist upon twist and surprises upon surprises. I think of the old saying, never speak ill of the dead. Mrs. Danvers certainly didn’t!
That motto works well in fiction and keeps us guessing. Maybe it works well in real life, too. Sometimes those skeletons don’t want to come out of the closet. Which is very selfish of them to stay hidden and deprive us ever-snoopy storytellers of a great idea for a book.
Then there’s Oscar Wilde’s famous Dorian Gray, the mysterious man in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Dorian never seems to age. Lo and behold, his secret isn’t Botox. It’s a painting of himself he has hidden away which is aging. What I want to know is where can I buy a painting like that?
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louise Stevenson, we first see Dr Jekyll as a scientist and an upstanding citizen…who happens to have a naughty side which he keeps hidden. After all, he has a reputation to maintain. The ultimate shapeshifter, the doctor speculates that if only he could split his good half from his bad half, then the bad boy could have fun but not tarnish the reputation of the good boy.
So, he begins experimenting with drugs. Again, on the surface, we see a character presenting one face to the world while hiding another. And we are fascinated by him.
Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind, was an expert at showing readers the obvious and the hidden in her character Scarlett O’Hara. Scarlett’s world sees her as an adorable Southern belle. We the readers see her as spoiled and selfish. She hides her true motives behind a veil of charm and fake altruism.
Then there’s her counterpart, her cousin Melanie, who appears to be weak and unworthy of the love of Ashley Wilkes, Scarlett’s dream man. But as events unfold, we see that Melanie is the morally strong character. This is Scarlett’s story, but Melanie is the true heroine. Both women prove that people aren’t always what they seem to be.
And speaking of not getting what you see, how about Mr. Rochester in Charlotte Brontë’s famous romance Jane Eyre? Mr. Rochester, the master of the house where she serves as governess, comes across as aloof and uncaring.
Sometimes those skeletons don’t want to come out of the closet.As the story progresses, he shows Jane that he has a heart. Happily-ever-after is right around the corner. Until we learn his dark secret. “Sorry, babe. Did I neglect to tell you I’m married and keep my mad wife locked up in that mysterious room?” Good grief, a girl can’t trust anyone.
And that might be the case in my novel, The Man Next Door. The hunky new neighbor looks like the perfect happy ending for a broke divorcee who’s moved back in with her mom. Mom seems to think he is.
Until the two observe strange goings on next door between him and the mysterious woman who has suddenly showed up. He sounds abusive. He looks dangerous. Is he? There’s a strong resemblance to Mr. Thorwald in Rear Window.
Fictional characters are such a great reflection of real life. People we think are honest may end up cheating us in business. The woman we thought was a true friend may turn out to be a gossip who wants to spill the tea about us. That perfect man could turn out to be narcissistic and abusive. People never reveal everything about themselves when we first meet them.
In books, an author reveals character layer by layer until we get down to pay dirt and see who that character really is. In real life, diving into relationships can be dangerous. Isn’t it nice that in fiction, we can dive right in?
Go ahead, judge a book by its cover. And then have fun seeing if you judged correctly.
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