I was delayed at the airport. Customs had been a nightmare. The officer thought she detected something amiss in my bag, removed it with the tray and set the remnants to one side. The space was tight, the light was dim, the noise reverberated from the low roof and there was a thrum of tired, hot, stressed people all desperate to get the whole business done with. As I picked up one tray, I suddenly realised the second, with my bag containing my laptop, my purse and medicines was nowhere to be seen.
At that point the Customs Officer asked me a question. I’m not proud of myself, but deep in panic, I answered her very sharply indeed. Whereupon she took my tray and marooned it in the rectangle of cupboards surrounding her, leaving me looking silly, trying to calm down.
What did she think of my character and what did I think of hers? At that moment we were both thinking bad thoughts.
How would you have described our characters at that point? Were we displaying what we truly were, or were we displaying a momentary flash of the dark side we all have? If we had been at an airport in America would the officer have done something different, in Africa, in Venezuela? Could I have been a drug smuggler, an escaping political prisoner, a criminal? What reactions would I have had to that officer? What would she have had to me?
Before we meet, we judge people by their appearance. Are they young or old? Can we slot them into a pigeonhole so they become more familiar to us? When we know them, we rationalise their behaviour, we excuse them when they treat us badly.
But how would a criminal excuse his behaviour. How would he hide what he had done? Why am I saying “him?” Is it worse if I say “her?”
Characters carry our stories. If we like the people enough, we are on their side. If they repel us, we are ready to boo. How far must a character go before we step back in horror, Murder, kidnap, child abuse? When they are revealed as a monster do we take a step back and deny we’ve ever liked them? Or we secretly enjoy joining them in the journey?
Jean Smith Author 