http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/character-development Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Mon, 07 Sep 2026 19:14:19 -0400 Mon, 07 Sep 2026 19:14:19 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1638/divinity-in-the-disguise-of-mental-illness-in-william-faulkners-the-sound-and-the-fury By Rebecca Berezin - The character of Benjy Compson from William Faulkner’s 1929 novel The Sound and the Fury is a mythic and Christ-like figure with the divine gift of prophecy rather than the retarded man-child that the other characters in the novel view him to be. To see the world through Benjy’s eyes, you must be part of a very exclusive club with a two prong membership: that of autism and that of synesthesia. Autism is a developmental disorder most often characterized by impairments in forming normal social relationships and impairments in being able to communicate with others. Synesthesia itself... Mon, 01 May 2017 10:02 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1638/divinity-in-the-disguise-of-mental-illness-in-william-faulkners-the-sound-and-the-fury http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1496/the-role-of-minor-and-ephemeral-characters-in-shakespeares-henry-v By Muhammad Suffian - Henry V is an unusual play in the sense that it is centred on one major personality. Therefore, the play often has to rely on the dramatic effect of its minor and ephemeral characters. These characters are extraordinarily compelling and their importance cannot be exaggerated; they provide critical perspective of the King, and his interactions with them are designed to undercut and comprise the heroic perception of his character. (Erickson, 1979, pg. 14). Thus, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate and critically analyse the salient role minor characters play in deflating the heroic myth of Shakespeare... Tue, 15 Nov 2016 10:17 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1496/the-role-of-minor-and-ephemeral-characters-in-shakespeares-henry-v http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1052/feminism-in-death-and-the-maiden-and-like-water-for-chocolate By Justine M. Baek - Tita, the protagonist from Esquivel's novel, grows from a submissive, suffocated girl into a strong, independent woman. In contrast, Paulina, the progtagonist of Dorman's play, becomes suffocated and paranoid after her torture. However, interestingly, through torturing Roberto, Paulina demonstrates her abrupt change into a dominating, vindictive woman through her possession of a gun. But in spite of the restrictions they are subjected to because of their gender, the female protagonists of both works are able to overcome their limitations and become strong and independent women. The two heroines... Sat, 27 Jun 2015 09:17 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1052/feminism-in-death-and-the-maiden-and-like-water-for-chocolate http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/219/ivans-transformation-and-coming-to-terms-in-leo-tolstoys-the-death-of-ivan-illyich By Michael C. Wiseman - In Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Illyich, the story's protagonist--Ivan--is dead before the story begins. The first chapter concerns itself with some of Ivan’s work associates. With the exception of a posthumous cameo, Tolstoy completely omits the title character from the first chapter. He does this to show that Ivan was shaped by the flaws of his society. By displaying Ivan’s friends at a significant time, Tolstoy shows us what Ivan’s society was like, and vicariously shows the readers what kind of man Ivan was. In short, Ivan lived as a vicious bureaucrat: living life to... Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:51 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/219/ivans-transformation-and-coming-to-terms-in-leo-tolstoys-the-death-of-ivan-illyich http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/183/analyzing-reader-response-in-jd-salingers-the-laughing-man By Nicole Holmen - J.D. Salinger’s “The Laughing Man” is a classic frame story which displays the parallels between a storyteller and his real life.  The narrator of the story, along with his friends, acts as the “readers” of this story and respond psychologically to it, just as a reader of Salinger’s story will respond psychologically to the events presented to them.  This article will analyze “The Laughing Man” using psychological reader-response theory to discover the similarities between Salinger’s readers and his “readers” within the... Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:58 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/183/analyzing-reader-response-in-jd-salingers-the-laughing-man http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/119/perceptions-of-heroes-and-villains-in-european-literature By Katherine Blakeney - It is tempting to classify literary, cinematic, and historical characters into groups. The trouble, of course, is that such labels can be misleading at best, and severely subjective and variable. When using terms such as hero, villain, anti-hero, anti-villain, or adventurer, it is important to remember how vague and movable the borders really are, and to ask why a certain label is or should be placed on a specific character. It is never enough to simply classify a character or a person. One must take into consideration what the creator of this character had in mind, what circumstances affected... Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:41 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/119/perceptions-of-heroes-and-villains-in-european-literature http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/20/allows-itself-to-anything-poor-tom-familiarizing-and-enacting-chaos-in-king-lear By Leslie S. Lee - In Act 1, scene 2, Edmund responds to Edgar’s entrance with the following: “Pat he comes, like the catastrophe of the old comedy. My cue is villainous melancholy, with a sigh like Tom o’Bedlam. –O, these eclipses do portend these divisions. Fa, sol, la, mi.” (134-137) Edmund’s introduction of the Tom o’Bedlam character is preceded by his disparagement of astrological superstitions, which he then performs for Edmund as if in the voice of Tom o’Bedlam. Thus these lines create an association between the Tom o’Bedlam figure and a belief in astrological... Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:13 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/20/allows-itself-to-anything-poor-tom-familiarizing-and-enacting-chaos-in-king-lear