In this week’s Character Under a Microscope post, I want to zoom in on a character’s image. Specifically, her self-imposed image. While everyone has a persona that society sees, it’s not always the truth. Let’s look at a person’s subjective image and five categories to consider when you are creating your characters.
What Is A Subjective Image?
A subjective image is a character’s self-image. How does she see herself? How does she portray herself to others? It’s called a subjective image because it isn’t always true. A person can speak kindly and be generous in public, yet beat her spouse. She can pretend she has no morals yet give to charities in secret. We all have ways we want to be perceived, and we do what we can to portray that image.
When thinking about your character’s subjective image, you also need to think about why they want that image. What’s important to them about being perceived that way? I did a post on a character’s motivations a while back, and I talked about how characters should have both real and apparent reasons for how they act. There will be a true reason they behave a certain way, and there will be a reason that people see from the outside. You can apply that to the character’s image as well. Why do they want that specific image, and how could people misinterpret their need to appear that way?
Example
An easy example of a subjective image is Javert in Les Misérables. Everything he does is to portray himself as a just and honorable man (trying to set himself apart from his criminal ancestors). He does this by following the letter of the law and enforcing society’s morals. If people break the law, he makes them pay. Yet at his core, he has no sense of right and wrong. He uses the law as his guide, never stopping to consider if the law itself is just. At the end, when faced with proof that his law does not always guarantee justice, he breaks. His subjective image is ruined, and he can’t accept that he’s been acting dishonorably and unjustly. He can’t accept that he’s not the person he wants to be so he commits suicide.
5 Categories Of Subjective Image
Every person has an ideal image of themselves. We are all actors that strive to make the world believe certain things about us. The same is true for your characters. If you want your protagonist to seem deep and realistic, you need to give her a subjective image. She must have certain beliefs about herself that she portrays to society. While each person’s subjective image is unique to them, there are five categories you can consider while creating your protagonist’s subjective image.
1. Role
The first area of image is her role in society. What kind of participant is she in the world? Does she see herself as a rebel? A mother? A Nobel Peace Prize winner? Each of these will affect how she acts and presents herself. A woman may be a mother and a forensic scientist, but where does she put her worth? Does she work late nights and attend conferences, letting her husband tend the children? Or, does she keep getting passed up for promotions because she puts more time and energy into being a mother? She will make her choice depending on how she sees herself. If she thinks she’s intelligent and indispensable to the forensic field, she’ll create her subjective image to show her commitment to her scientific role. Bear in mind though, that doesn’t mean it’s her true image. If the building is burning down, she may run to save her family instead of her research.
2. Morals
Next, a subjective image relies on a sense of morality. Does she think she is honorable or crooked? Does she pride herself on following rules or breaking them? If you think of children, they often fall into roles. One sibling is told she is the good child while another is called a rebellious child. As they grow, those roles are reinforced in their minds and portrayed in their characters. The good child may sneak out to parties, but she’ll do everything she can not to get caught. While the rebellious child may cover for the good child just to keep up the image of being a rebel. So how does your protagonist see her sense of morality?
3. Interpersonal Relations
A big factor in picking a self-image is interpersonal relations. A subjective image is all about how a character wants others to perceive her. She will pick attributes that make people treat her how she wants. Is she bubbly and sweet? Soft-spoken and pensive? Loud and fun-loving? How does she want her interactions with others to be? If she wants to be left alone, she’ll act abrasive. If she wants to be desirable, she’ll be kind and witty. While these traits can be natural to the character, they often aren’t all true all the time. The happiest person in the room can be the saddest. The quietest can be the most adventurous. When creating characters, it’s important to ask how they want to be seen by others and not just assign them a personality. This provides a chance to create tension in the character arc when who they are and what they pretend to be clash.
4. Appearance
Though most people don’t want to talk about it, appearance is a big part of self-image. A woman who thinks she’s beautiful will act differently than one who thinks she’s not. It’s not an issue of vanity, but image. Attractiveness means desirability which brings assurance. Even people who are not considered gorgeous can believe they are attractive and have that sense of self-confidence that others with self-esteem problems lack. But appearance isn’t just about attractiveness. Does the woman want to look sweet? Perhaps she only wears floral dresses and bright colors. Would she rather appear tough? Then maybe she’ll wear dark colors and leather. Appearance can do a lot of set up a subjective image without the person ever having to act a certain way.
5. Intelligence
Lastly, intelligence is important when creating a subjective image. A person who wants to be seen as smart will act differently than one who doesn’t care. Some people want to act dumb, either to get their way or make others underestimate them. A character’s subjective image may just be intelligence in a certain area. She may pride herself on her knowledge of cars and go out of her way to show that intelligence. Even if she doesn’t know something, she may be more apt to play like she does. But, if the same situation came up about how to build a house, she’d have no issues with just admitting her ignorance. The standard people hold themselves to will dictate how they present themselves to the world.
Final Thoughts
This is not an exhaustive list of areas to consider when creating a subjective image for characters. There are as many images to pick from as there are personalities in the world. It’s limitless. I know it seems like more work to give a character a personality and then a subjective image as well, but remember that some traits will overlap. Not everyone will try to be the opposite of what they are. However, there will be areas in their lives where they strive to be something they may not be. Pick those areas and show it on the page. You’ll end up with deep characters that hit home in the readers’ minds. After all, aren’t we all just striving to be our ideal self-images?
Thanks for reading!
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