Tell don't Show!

[Ron Blanco]

I've just started reading a book for my reading class and i was struck by the description of a character on page 2.

 

He is described as "tight-fisted" and "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster."

 

And so it goes on, describing this character. Has this author broken the number one rule 'Show don't Tell'? He must be a novice, I thought to myself, but it turns out that he is one of the greatest authors ever and the book is a classic.

 

Why did he choose to tell us so much about the character and how did he get away with it?

[coyleys]

I take it you are referring to our old friend Boz, well I don’t think the rule had been coined back then, and even if it had I think we may forgive him, just this once, mind.

[Karis]

It's vitally important to note that every writer has a style (which works for them), and, even more importantly: every rule is there to be broken!

 

Of course, many unyielding editors may ban such breaches in writing etiquette and it might utterly ruin your chances of getting published.

[Ron Blanco]

I take it you are referring to our old friend Boz

 

Yes indeed, A Christmas Carol. I knew there would be no pulling the wool over your eyes Mr C.

 

Perhaps the power of the book lies in the simplicity of the story and he just didn't feel like mucking about developing characters slowly.

[coyleys]

As Karis says “every writer has his own style”, when you start to dabble with the written word your reading changes, unconsciously you start to compare styles. Over the last 18 months I have had a stint on the old classics, mainly Dickens, Austin and Hardy. I would put Austin and Hardy on a par, but Dickens is a lot easier reading, although they were around the same era, why the difference? Dickens and Hardy were of similar social status, whereas Austin was probably influence by the church. But then if we look at the Bronte sisters, same family, same influences and yet different styles, well certainly in the case of Emily and Charlotte.

Yours sincerely

Confused Coyley

[Ron Blanco]

Thanks Coyleys,

 

You're right. Now that I've started trying to write stuff, I do read differently.

 

In my recent effort "The Return" I was trying hard to show not tell in order to allow the reader to engage with the characters. But then I see this example, where Dickens is shamelessly spelling out Scrooge's character on page 2.

 

Could it be he simply uses this as a shortcut because he's more interested in the plot and the message of the story? Does he consolidate the characters by 'showing' us more about them later? Is this always his style?

[coyleys]

In my recent effort "The Return".

 

Oops! I must have missed that one, sorry Ron.

[Mantaspook]

I haven't read 'A Christmas Carol' for years, however I do remember this same question coming up at some dark and distant lecture I attended. From memory, here is a brief précis.

 

Dickins emplyed a technique known as a "Third person Narrator" - a particularly chatty one that tells the story in an informal style.

 

The narrator gives the impression that he is one of the characters in the book who has taken time to step outside the story, refers to himself thus giving the impression he is one of the characters in the book, essentially he is used as a surrogate for the author.

 

His credentials are enhanced by referring to himself in the first person and doing it modestly, for example:

 

"I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge…"

 

"I might have been inclined myself"

 

"Brings me back to the point I started from"

 

So straight away the reader feels he is been addressed by someone he knows, the narrators assessment of Scrooge's character appears to be told informally, and because we implicitly trust the narrator (he appears to be telling us something in confidence) we think he is telling the truth.

 

So yes, Dickins has 'told' the reader about Scrooge's character, but look how he did it. - by using a third person narrator.

 

Furthermore, he backed up the initial 'told' assessment by 'showing' you that Scrooge was a miserly curmudgeon, for example, when scrooge first speaks:

 

 

"A merry Christmas uncle! God save you!" cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation of his approach.

 

"Bah!" said Scrooge, "Humbug!"

 

So Dickins is been consistent, if Scrooge had replied "By George yes! a merry Christmas to you my nephew, help yourself to a glass of brandy and a spare turkey!" - This wouldn't have worked, the reader would have been 'shown' something that contradicted the 'telling'.

 

Karis raises a very good point about every rule is there to be broken, so they should - but only if it works for the writing!

 

Incidentally, if you have another look at the first few pages of the book, say, up until the time Scrooge speaks, you can see that Dickens has mixed the 'telling' and 'showing' elements very well, the narrator describes the scenes so well that it seems he is showing it to the reader.

 

Further reading.

 

A Christmas Carol.- online version.

 

A Christmas carol- critical overview

[Ron Blanco]

Thanks Mantaspook, that's useful and interesting.

 

In your link to the review it says: "despite critical condemnation, the short novel has remained a well-loved Christmas classic for people around the world." I suppose the critics and the public won't necessarily agree. This may apply to poetry too as I noticed in The Nation's Favourite 100 poems they nearly all rhyme!

[coyleys]

Ron, now you have had time to read ‘A Christmas Carol’ have a read at ‘The Goblin Who Stole a Sexton’ same author, and compare the narratives.