Uncle Daniel and Lester Ballard
Proper characterization is one of the greatest skills that a writer possesses because often times poor development of characters or their inapt portrayal can completely destroy even the most perfect of stories. It has been noticed that while most writers pay close attention to evolution of their characters, they do tend to go overboard with negative or positive characterization on some occasions. Despite their good intentions, they get carried away with a desire to create unusual characters that cannot be related to easily. A writer's ability to develop realistic characters tend to add to the overall impact and popularity of their works and similarly a poorly developed or unrealistic character can destroy an otherwise good plot. However in some rare cases, even a seemingly unreal character manages to leave a lasting impact because of the sheer creative genius of the authors. This is exactly what happens with the protagonists of the two novels that we shall be discussing in this paper. The first character comes from the novel, The Ponder Heart, written by Eudora Welty. And the other is that of Lester Ballard who plays the lead role in Cormac McCarthy's Child of God.
The reason why we find a comparison between these two characters interesting is because they fall at the two extreme ends of characterization spectrum. On the one end, we find Uncle Daniel who is a little too good to be true while at the other extreme is Lester Ballard, a despicable character who leaves a huge negative impact on the mind. While Uncle Daniel's character lacks strength, realism and may not leave you any wiser, he is nonetheless an unusually funny and eccentric person whose very presence puts a smile on your face. His complete inability to understand the world as it is and see things in correct perspective gives birth to irrational decisions and actions that are meant to generate spontaneous laughter. The author's has maintained a lighthearted comic style throughout the novel, which befits the perfectly comical character of Daniel.
Uncle Daniel is shown as a highly eccentric character that has one major flaw. While he is a perfectly generous soul with little IQ and is an heir to massive fortune, he is determined to distribute his assets on a whim. If he were happy to meet someone, he would give him a large chunk of the fortune without even realizing the consequences of his actions. Daniel appears to believe that all the money he has is not of any real value to him, so why not give it away to those who might actually need it. On one occasion, he comes across a motorcycle stunt rider who impresses him so much that he decides to allot an entire service station to her.
The opening page highlights the important attributes of Daniel's character in these words:
My uncle Daniel is jut like your uncle, if you've got one-only he has one weakness. He loves society and he gets carried away... he liable to give you a little hug and start trying to give you something. Don't do you any good to be bashful. He won't let you refuse. All he might do is forget tomorrow what he gave you today and give it to you all over again. Sweetest disposition in the world." (Pg. 4)
The narrator, Edna Earle is not at all amused by what she sees and thus together with her grandfather, decides to send Daniel to an asylum for the insane. However at the institution, older Ponder is mistaken for Daniel and admitted to the asylum much to the chagrin of the two chief 'conspirators'. It is important to mention here that while it is Daniel who is shown to be the most eccentric person in Southern town of Clay, all other supporting characters also add to the comic style of the novel. It is their rather unusual style of perceiving reality that makes Daniel's character even more interesting. However Daniel's character lacks depth, whatever excitement it creates is due to its weird actions and its inability to view things in the same light as others do.
Daniel's story is seen and studied from the eyes of Edna who simply cannot comprehend why her uncle cannot behave properly. She knows that the man possess unusually generous heart but wonders if this generosity may somehow be connected with insanity. For example who would give away everything they own, even the cemetery lot that was meant for them. (Welty, 8) Daniel doesn't intend to be funny but somehow whatever he does, appears so removed from
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