Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi

Öz

In Aspects of
the Novel, Edward Morgan Forster introduces the critical concepts of flat
and round to describe the nature of different types of fictional characters.
According to Forster’s theoretical categorization, flat characters are constructed
and exist in their fictional realm around a single feature or quality. As this
is the key criterion, Forster argues that flat characters can easily be
recognized and remembered by the reader. Flat characters remain mostly the same
through circumstances. In other words, flat characters never surprise the
reader. Contrary to the nature of flat characters, round characters operate in
an opposite direction to their counterparts. Round characters never remain the
same throughout events, and it is not easy to recognize them since they do not
exist under the dominance of a single trait. In addition to these, round
characters are those who surprise the reader. Although Forster’s categorisation
of fictional characters has functioned well in most of the cases, some
characters are not easily analysed under this formula. Franz Kafka’s Gregor
Samsa, for example, seems neither a round nor a flat character. Throughout his
story, he remains the same. At the same time, he surprises the reader, which is
not expected from him since he is mostly the same character in the text.
Samsa’s turning into an insect further complicates the definition of his
roundness or flatness. Another example is Iris Murdoch’s Mister Mars. Mister
Mars is an animal. But at the same time he is a movie star, a celebrity. He has
a pivotal role for the protagonist of the text. Therefore, the aim of this
study is first to introduce the theoretical background of the nature of
fictional characters and then to display some difficulties present particularly
in Forster’s classification through the characterisation of two non-human
examples.