Direct characterization is any explicit explanation or
description of a character. This means that the reader does not have to use inference to
understand what may or may not have been implied. Direct characterization can come from
the narrator, the character himself or herself, or from other characters. Atticus
describes Scout explicitly when he is talking to Uncle Jack about her bad behavior at
Christmas. He says the following after Scout gets into a scuffle with her cousin
Francis:
"Bad
language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn
they're not attracting attention with it. Hotheadedness
isn't. Scout's got to learn to keep her head and learn soon, with what's in store for
her these next few months. She's coming along, though. Jem's getting older and she
follows his example a good bit now. All she needs is assistance sometimes. . . the
answer is she know I know she tries. . . but Scout'd just as soon jump on someone as
look at him if her pride's at stake"
(87-88).
In the above
passage, Atticus directly states that, first, Scout is using bad language lately, but it
is a phase; second, she's hotheaded and needs to work on not losing it; third, she is
trying her best to stop fighting with others; and finally, she fights to defend her
honor and pride. Had Atticus only alluded to her bad behavior without being specific,
then that would have been an example of indirect characterization. With this passage,
the reader clearly sees what Scout needs to work on as well as the fact that she's doing
her best to follow her father's wishes.
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