From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A composite character is a character in a fictional work or non-fictional work that is composed of two
or more individuals.
In fictional works the composite character may be real historical or biographical figures
used as models for an original piece of fiction, or they may be
fictional themselves and combined in the process adaptation of
fiction from one medium to another (as in the film adaptation
of a novel). Frequently, writers
of fiction have been known to project elements of their own alter egos into the
characters they write about.
Composite characters do appear in non-fictional works (such as
Bobby Ciaro in the biography Hoffa[1] and
several characters in the movie "21"[2]) though
their use in such works is frowned on (see Use in journalism
below)
Use in
journalism
While creating composite characters for a fictional work is a
useful tool, doing so in journalism is considered to be like any
other passing off of fiction as fact and is, in general, considered
to be unethical.[3]
Nonetheless, respected writers have been known to employ this type
of creative non-fiction. In 1944, The New
Yorker ran a series of pieces by Joseph Mitchell
on New York's Fulton Fish Market that were
presented as journalism. Only when the story was published four
years later as the book, Old Mr. Flood did Mitchell write,
"Mr. Flood is not one man; combined in him are aspects of several
old men who work or hang out in Fulton Fish Market, or who did in
the past." [4]
Mitchell assigned his character his own birthday and his own love
for the Bible, Mark Twain and columnist
Heywood
Broun.[5]
Similarly, John
Hersey is said to have created a composite character in a
Life magazine story as did Alastair Reid for
The New Yorker.[6]
More recently, Vivian Gornick admitted in 2003 to
having used composite characters in some of her articles for the
Village Voice.[7]
It remains a somewhat open question to what degree journalistic
standards of newspaper
reporting apply when one is writing for a magazine.[6]
In his introduction to Mr. Flood, Mitchell wrote, "I
wanted these stories to be truthful rather than factual, but they
are solidly based on facts."[6]
War and
propaganda
Composite character may a real or fictional person to
effectively immortalize this person. One legendary example is the
case of Spartacus a
commander during the Third Servile War where all captured
slaves admitted to be him. A modern example is the sniper Juba of the Islamic
Army in Iraq during the Iraqi Insurgency
he claims to have killed 143 US soldiers. With the arrest of two
men claming to be Juba and the high kill rate Juba is a considered
to be a fictional person composed of several snipers.
Notes and
sources
- ^
Canby, Vincent. "Hoffa (1992)". New York
Times Online. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/22698/Hoffa/overview. Retrieved
2009-02-21.
- ^
Bennett, Drake (April 6, 2008). "House of Cards". Boston
Globe. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/04/06/house_of_cards/. Retrieved
2009-02-21.
- ^ Mindy McAdams, " Against dishonesty in
journalism: Creating composite characters"
- ^ Jack Schafer, "The Fabulous Fabulists: Mencken, Liebling, and
Mitchell made stuff up, too. Why do we excuse them?", Slate,
June 12, 2003
- ^ Christopher Carduff, "Fish-eating, whiskey, death
& rebirth", The New Criterion November,
1992
- ^ a
b
c
Meghan O'Rourke, "Literary Licence: Defending
Joseph Mitchell's Composit Characters", Slate,
July 29, 2003
- ^ "Unethical writers love the
power of creative non-fiction", WTPO News, January 13,
2006
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