Characters Who Grow From Childhood

DwayneA · Aug 17, 2009

In some books I've read, the protagonist starts off as a child, and grows as the story progresses from teens to adult. Here are a few examples of some books I've read:

-David Copperfield (starts at the time of his birth and ends with him a man)
-White Fang (the title-wolf isn't even born until chapter 5, and spends much of the next chapters as a pup before growing into an adult)
-James and the Giant Peach (James is four years old in the first chapter. A few years have passed by the second chapter)
-A Crooked Path (the book starts with the protagonist as a twelve year old, and the next chapter focuses on him as a fifteen and later seventeen year old, then the rest as an adult)

Why does the author do this? When is it appropriate or neccessary?

KTC · Aug 17, 2009

Dwayne. Really!? You write the story. Sometimes your questions leave SO MUCH to be desired. If your story starts with the character in childhood and ends with them in adulthood...that's how you write it. YOU DICTATE THE AGE(S) OF YOUR CHARACTERS.

Fox The Cave · Aug 17, 2009

Because Buddha told them to.

DwayneA · Aug 17, 2009

this doesn't answer my questions and you aren't being very helpful

CaroGirl · Aug 17, 2009

Kevin did answer your question. The story itself dictates its scope and timeframe.

dpaterso · Aug 17, 2009

DwayneA said:
this doesn't answer my questions and you aren't being very helpful

Your question makes me shrug my shoulders helplessly. I don't understand what you're getting at.

It's how the authors chose to write their stories.

Why shouldn't they do it this way?

-Derek

Wayne K · Aug 17, 2009

In the book I'm writing with my nephew the characters get younger as they age. It's set in a backwards world.

Wayne K · Aug 17, 2009

I'm sure I'm the exception...

Sophia · Aug 17, 2009

DwayneA said:
In some books I've read, the protagonist starts off as a child, and grows as the story progresses from teens to adult.

Why does the author do this? When is it appropriate or neccessary?

The author could do this if the story is a "coming of age" tale. That's when the story is about a character going through experiences that to them, mark the end of childhood and the beginning of their adult lives. The author shows how the character thought and acted before, during and after those experiences, and the reader gets to follow along.

Another time to do this is when the novel is following a character who is so interesting that it is worth having the entire novel follow their life, rather than a particular period of it. The character would have to be very interesting for this to work. Examples of these sorts of characters are historical rulers who lived through and influenced significant historical events, or perhaps cultural icons who have had an influence on a lot of people. Their backgrounds can be interesting, particularly if they show how the person went through tough experiences and often endured failure and hardship, in contrast to the fame they achieved later in life.

Dawnstorm · Aug 17, 2009

There are many possibilities:

1. The book gives us a biography; the author wants us to get to know the character.

[Birth--------->Death]

2. The development of character to a certain point is shown:

[Birth-------->End of Development (i.e. freedom, maturity, ...)]

3. The story of an event is told, but there is another event in the past that caused it.

[Cause-event]------>[Start of Main-event------>End of Main-Event]

4. To understand an event properly, you need to know about the environment the event takes place.

[Introduction of setting, a bit before the event starts]----->[Start of event------>End of Event]

5. The story of a particular stretch of time is shown by example. You're supposed to compare the changes between the "snapshots in time". For example, you could show three decades via a character, or three centuries via a family.

[Start of timeperiod-->[Event1]---->[Event2]---->[Event3]--->[Event 4]....[last event]--> End of time period]

I'm sure there are many, many other reasons why an author could do this. Out of interest, do the novels you've read fall into any of these templates?

Adagio · Aug 17, 2009

... great answer, ElaraSophia (and great avatar, too). In addition to what you've already posted, I should add that sometime the author is interested in a certain time period. For instance, he might choose a character born after the Great War, goes to WWII, an experience that transforms the character on every level, and the novel ends with the post-war years, post-war trauma ... whatever.

Or, within the same line, the story of a family, two or even three generations, which implies portraying characters from early childhood to maturity, even death.

The Forsyte Saga by J. Galsworthy is such a story -- a trilogy that covers the first half of the 20th century. I remember the character Fleur, introduced from the time of her birth. I understand that JG wanted to characterize the new generation, after the Great War. Made a TV series for BBC.

Hope it helps.
Adagio

Chasing the Horizon · Aug 17, 2009

I have a novel that starts with the MCs as young children, because that's where the character arc I want to follow begins. That book is heavily character driven and I imagine most (maybe even all) books that follow a character from early childhood are character driven.

Only the writer can decide if this particular technique will work in a given book. It runs the risk of being boring and coming across as back-story. I've gotten nothing but positive feedback on the opening to my novel that uses the technique, though, so I guess it's working for me.

DwayneA · Aug 17, 2009

ah finally! Now I get the answers I'm seeking! Thanks!

In answer to your question Dawnstorm, yes. For example, in A Crooked Path, the protagonist Manny is abandoned by his father at the end of chapter 1. For the rest of the book, Manny often thinks of his father and how he longs to capture his face in a drawing. He finds a father figure in his employer by the end of the story. In James and the Giant Peach, James loses his parents in chapter 1 and is sent to live with his Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker.

In my current work, my protagonist went through several experiences as a child that shaped her as a teenager, one of which sets up the story's main conflict, and another that ultimately leads to an inner conflict later on in the story. I was asking the question in this thread because I was wondering if it would be appropriate to start at my protagonist's childhood or if I should stick with her as a teenager.

BriMaresh · Aug 17, 2009

One reason this gets done is because of a literary convention--the Bildungsroman. It typically takes a character out of step with society and follows them as they learn and adjust, so that they either fall back in step with society and eliminate the problem that has them awkward (as with Jane Eyre) or to create a place within their society for themselves (as with The Diamond Age).

Think about what you're trying to achieve--is it about the way they change, an d the way they fit in society? Harry Potter does it, but that doesn't mean you should (or shouldn't, either, mind).

Good luck.

erinbee · Aug 17, 2009

I personally think the age of the great Bildungsroman is past and that too often, stories that follow protagonists from sperm to worm/womb to tomb don't start or end at the right place. Unfortunately, the easy answer to this question is also the hardest one: stories start where they start, and end where they end. Hopefully this means they start at a place of action and intrigue, and end there, too.

K. Andrew Smith · Aug 17, 2009

My current WIP starts with the MC as 10 years old, because that's when the monumentous events in his life start. The first ~20k words are when he's age 10-15, then second 20k are 15-20.

This is absolutely necessary because the MC's goals and motivations all derive from a fairly complex set of occurences when he's between 10 & 20, and there's no way to compress it down.

Kenzie · Aug 17, 2009

My WIP does this, following the MC from the age of around 5 to around 32. The most time is spent on her university years and then her late 20s to early 30s. The reasons I've chosen to do this are a) the story is strongly driven by her relationship with the antagonist, and I want to show that relationship growing and developing and show patterns setting in place from their childhood onwards, b) because the story is also driven by the changes in the society and country the characters live in, c) it is quite character driven and I want people to understand my MC inside and out before she does what she does at the end of the novel and d) I personally really enjoy books that follow characters over long periods of time.

So in my case, the story is dictating this technique for the most part.

Dawnstorm · Aug 18, 2009

Thanks for your reply, Dwayne.

DwayneA said:
In my current work, my protagonist went through several experiences as a child that shaped her as a teenager, one of which sets up the story's main conflict, and another that ultimately leads to an inner conflict later on in the story. I was asking the question in this thread because I was wondering if it would be appropriate to start at my protagonist's childhood or if I should stick with her as a teenager.

It's definitely possible to start with the childhood.

backslashbaby · Aug 18, 2009

Didn't think of the ole Bildungsroman, eh, Derek?

So slack...

Characters Who Grow From Childhood

DwayneA

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Fox The Cave

I get cancer. I kill Jack.

DwayneA

CaroGirl

Living the dream

dpaterso

Patent pending

Wayne K

Wayne K

Sophia

Dawnstorm

punny user title, here

Adagio

Chasing the Horizon

Blowing in the Wind

DwayneA

BriMaresh

New kid, be gentle!

erinbee

slanted and enchanted

K. Andrew Smith

Kenzie

Dawnstorm

punny user title, here

backslashbaby

*

Characters Who Grow From Childhood

Stand in the Place Where You Live

I get cancer. I kill Jack.

Living the dream

Patent pending

punny user title, here

Blowing in the Wind

New kid, be gentle!

slanted and enchanted

punny user title, here

~~~~*~~~~

*