Foundation in Narrative Theory Essay

How actors are transformed into characters

The character I have chosen is Meg from the book “Seven Little Australians”. She is introduced to us as an elder daughter of the house with having other six siblings, living with her father and stepmother. She is sixteen years old girl; she is romantic and ideal sister and a sort of mother to her siblings. The character of Meg is seen to be distinctive and predictable, and can be compared with the other characters along with having been adopting the change in her behavior and nature in the end. This is how Meg, an actor, is seen to be transformed into character according to the Topic 5. 

Meg is portrayed in the book as a very distinctive girl in nature. As a distinctive, Meg’s personality and individualism is prominent and shown in various sections of the book. From doing all household chores, taking care of her siblings, learning French with her older friend, trying to save Judy to studying the prevailing circumstances, Meg shows how she is different and distinctive character from the rest of the characters in the book. She is also predicable in behavior since we can predict and foresee what would happen to her as her naivety, romantic and ideal nature tells us all about her. The distinctiveness and predictability of Meg make her turn into a character who is supposed to be “complex semantic units (Bal, 2017, p. 104). The way she deals and tackles the situations arising in the book like her father’s decision to send Judy to the boarding school and the circumstances before and after Judy’s death is all about how Meg is depicted differently and distinctively from others with having unique nature of her own. 

How an actor Meg is transformed into "character" is also connected with the ways and manners Meg has. Those manners can be compared to the manners of other people in the book, especially her comparison can be made with her thirteen year sister Judy and her older friend Aldith. In comparison with Judy, Meg is seen to be full character as her conversation with the former shows the maturity, elderliness and intellect she carries with her. Meg is depicted well in relation to Judy since their conversations and opinions regarding their family especially their father can be taken to see how Meg has become character. She is built up or made through the way she trades or exchanges words with her surrounding people. In conversation with Judy, Meg seems to be more mature and wiser than rest of the people as when she discuss her father with Judy, it is clear that her opinion about her father is not as negative as Judy’s. Judy thinks negative about their father as the latter makes her go to boarding school; but it is Meg who understands the situation and tries to convince Judy that their father is not that bad. Again in this manner we are shown about Meg’s ideas are way more distinct and different here. With her comparison with Esther, Meg seems to be more docile, naïve, innocent and loving girl who takes care of her siblings not in the same way Esther does. Esther is sort of dominating and authoritative in nature, taking care of children in her imperious and arrogant manner unlike Meg. While speaking to Esther, Meg appears less commanding, and thus is shown that she is subservient and obedient to her stepmother in some way. Then there is Aldith, who lives near the house of Meg, and often visits Meg. These both actors are totally different from each other. Aldith tries to impact upon Meg, improving the appearances of Meg in considerable manner. When Aldith asks her to go on meeting the boys, Meg refuses. Aldith said, “You're just twelve, Marguerite," the young lady said calmly: you're not a bit more than twelve. (Turner, 2005, p. 96) In this way, Aldith’s opinions and ideas are not like Meg’s since the latter has  fear, apprehensions and trepidation before taking such step. The conversations between Meg and Aldith show that both view things and world in a different manner, have different backgrounds and different values. Moreover, the lecture given to her by Mr. Hassle also show the nature of Meg’s character as the former says, “Don't be too hard on them. Don't make an effort to show them the difference between your whiteness and their blackness.” (Turner, 2005, p. 234). she hates herself after she realizes that everyone lectures her; first Allan and then this Mr. Hassle on her behavior.  We see the character of Meg through these lines as well, and then also in how she feels after that about herself. 

According to Bal (2017), the changes and transformations include hinging on children’s progress from one state to another. In the book Seven Little Australians, the change in Meg is prominent in the end in terms of physical as well as mental change. First as a main lead, Meg is portrayed as sixteen-year old young mature girl who has responsibility of her siblings on her shoulders. She has pink cheeks, long hair with beautiful eye-lashes, spending time in reading books and stories. Her romantic ideas about love overwhelm and envelope her totally in her room as she idealizes the companionship of Allan. However, when she finally dares to go outside of the house, and then unexpectedly meets Allan in the darkness, her all romantic ideas and opinions vanish away from her mind as Allan lectures her about the behaviors she has adopted after meeting Aldith. Afterwards, she tries to recompose herself as saying that she would not live up like that again. Moreover, the death of Judy has impacted Meg badly as well. So, these two incidents in Meg’s life change her totally as in the end we see that the romantic thoughts of Meg about love along with her looks transform significantly. It is mentioned that “Meg had grown older she would never be quite so young again as she had been before that red sunset sank into her soul. There was a deeper light in her eyes; such tears as she had wept clear the...” (Turner, 2005, p. 252). Her friendship with Aldith gets severed; she devotes her life to her siblings. These all changes appear in her personality too.