Part 24 (1/2)

THE USE OF MODELS IN WRITING FICTION

We have seen how a real incident is worked over into the fundaht to hold in the use of real persons inthe characters in, a novel, or any story where character-drawing is an important item In a novel especially, the characters enuine personages Yet the ill-taste of ”putting your friends into a story” is only less pronounced than the bad art or drawing characters purely out of the i of persons in real life Yet it is practically ienuine characters in the mind without reference to real life The simple solution would seem to be to follow thehe does notwhen the school of ”out-of-the-headers” prevailed, but their as often grotesque, i even the idea the artist had in raphy The rational use of ood artist always draith his eye on the object, and the good writer should write with his eye on a definite conception or so or person, from which he varies consciously and for artistic purpose

The ordinary observer sees first the peculiarities of a thing If he is looking at an old gentle upon the bald spot on his head, a wart on his nose, his collar pulled up behind But the trained and artistic observer sees the peculiarly perfect outline of the old ait bent shoulders, and soiled senility a straight, handsome youth, fastidious in his dress and perfect in his form Such the old man was once, and all the elements of his broken youth are clearly visible under the hapless veneer of time for the one who has an eye to see This is but one illustration of irlNew York illustrators the typicalwo, misfortunes which are clearly visible in her personal appearance But she has the bearing, the air of the social queen, and to the artist she is that alone

He does not see the veneer of circu else in her hu characters the writer has a e of models from which to choose, in one sense His models are the people he knows by personal association day by day during various periods of his life, from childhood up Each person he has known has left an i he considers The art of painting requires the actual presence in physical person of the model, a limitation the writer fortunately does not have At the sa thereatly inconveniencing hi his whole , yet practically it proves inadequate

The fleeting impressions do not remain, and only what remains steadily and permanently in thea lifetie nu that comes in one's way When the writer takes up {the} pen to produce a story, he searches through his mental collection for a suitable model So the same character, one for this characteristic, and another for that But in writing the novelist should have his eye on his model just as steadily and persistently as the painter, for so alone can he catch the spirit and inner truth of nature; and art If it is anything, is the interpretation of nature

The ideal character raphic copy, not idealization or glorification or caricature, unless the idealization or glorification or caricature has a definite value in the interpretation

CHAPTER XV

CONTRAST

In all effective writing contrast is far ure of speech: it is an essential eleth A work of literary art without contrast inality of idea, but it will be weak, narrow, limp The truth is, contrast is the measure of the breadth of one's observation We often think of it as a figure of speech, a e which we use for effect A better view of it is as a measure of breadth You have a dark, wicked man on one side, and a fair, sunny, soman on the other These are two extremes, a contrast, and they include all between If a writer understands these extremes he understands all between, and if in a story he sets up one type against another he in a way marks out those extremes as the boundaries of his intellectual field, and he claireat field; if feeble, then he has only a narrow field

Contrast and one's power of ht and especially the breadth of one's thinking in a particular creative attereatest possible breadth, for the greater his breadth the more people there are ill be interested in his work Narrow minds interest a few people, and broad ly many The best way to cultivate breadth is to cultivate the use of contrast in your writing

But to assume a breadth which one does not have, to pass from one extreme to another without perfectridiculous It is like trying to extend the range of the voice too far One desires a voice with the greatest possible range; but if in forcing the voice up one breaks into a falsetto, the effect is disastrous So in seeking range of character expression one must be very careful not to break into a falsetto, while straining the true voice to its ute

Let us now pass froeneral kind to contrasts of a e first Light conversationor it becomes monotonous, as we all know But if the writer can pass soht conversation to serious narrative, both the light dialogue and the serious see to be considered is, can you do it with perfect ease and grace? If you cannot, better let it alone Likewise, the long sentence raph, and a fine contrast shown by using very short sentences in the next

But let us distinguish between variety and contrast The writersentences to short ones when the reader has tired of long ones, and _vice versa,_ he ic character to a comic one in order to rest the mind of the reader In this there will be no very decided contrast But when the two extreether perhaps, then we have an electric effect To use contrast well requires great skill in the handling of language, for contrastfrom one extre is not done gracefully, the whole effect is spoiled

What has been said of contrast in language, character, etc, may also be applied to contrasts in any small detail, incident, or even simile

Let us exareat adept in their use

Let us take the opening paragraph of ”The Necklace” and see what a marvel of contrast it is: ”She was one of those pretty and charirls who are sometimes, as if by a mistake of destiny, born in a family of clerks She had no dowry, no expectations, noknown, understood, loved, wedded, by any rich and distinguished man; and she had let herself be married to a little clerk in the Ministry of Public Instruction” Notice ”pretty and char”? ”family of clerks” These two contrasted ideas (iracefully linked by ”as if by a oes on to irl did not have in a way that is She could not be wedded to ”any rich and distinguished man”; ”she let herself bedescription of Madas she ht have been, wanted to be, hat she was and had A little farther on, however, we get a different sort of contrast Though poor, she has a rich friend Then her husband brings hohted I contrast He is shown patient; she is irritated She is selfish in wishi+ng a dress and finery; he is unselfish in giving up his gun and the shooting

With the ball the author gives us a description of Mada Her hopes are satisfied coo away, the fact of her lack of wraps contrasts tellingly with her previous attractiveness

These two little descriptions?one of the success of the ball, one of hurrying away in shame, the wretched cab and all?are a most forcible contrast, and most skilfully and naturally represented The previous happiness is further set into relief by the utter wretchedness she experiences upon discovering the loss of the necklace

Then we have her new life of hard work, which we contrast in , but with that which she had drea, had seemed about to realize, and had suddenly lost for ever

Then at last we have the contrast, elaborate, strongly drawn and telling, between Madam Loisel after ten years and her friend, who represents in flesh and blood what she ht have been Then at the end comes the short, sharp contrast of paste and dia contrast one does not have to search for so else Every situation has a certain breadth, it has two sides, whether they are far apart or near together To give the real effect of a conception it is necessary to pass from one side to the other very rapidly and frequently, for only in so doing can one keep the whole situation in mind One must see the whole story, both sides and all in between, at the same tirasps and theis the composition The use of contrast is eminently a matter of acquired skill, and when one has become skilful he uses contrast unconsciously and with the same effort that he makes his choice of words

APPENDIX