How to Write a Character Analysis | Essay Writing Tips

How to Write a Character Analysis

First, you need to choose, which character you're going to analyze. I suggest you choose a character, who changes. If you have to write about Finding Nemo, (The Walt Disney story), then you might be tempted to choose Nemo, because, after all, the title has his name in it- he must be the main character. But, really, the character, who changes the most and who really goes on a journey, is the Father- Marlin, so he's the character best suited for a character analysis. 

So, number one- choose a character, who changes! All right, now you've chosen which character to analyze, you're going to have to think of inferences. Let me give you an example of what I mean by that. Here's some…here's an inference down here, but let me start with this-“FACT: Marlin hovers”. We know (if you've watched this film) that Marlin is the dad and he hovers over his son and doesn't want to let him be independent and try new things or take any risks. But, the fact that he does this is something that the film already tells you so that doesn't require much thinking on your part. You haven't actually drawn a conclusion from that yet- that makes it just a plain old fact. What you need is to infer something that means you need to draw a conclusion of your own. You have lots of facts about Marlin: what he does, and what he says, and what he thinks and how he reacts to situations and those are the facts that will help you to write the essay, but you need to draw some conclusions from those facts. You need to infer what's really going on with Marlin- what's driving him, what are his motivations, explain his psychology.

If we were to sit down and talk to Dr. Phil, or some therapist, what would we discover about Marlin’s history, about the way he approaches life, and how does that changes over the course of the film? That's what a character analysis explores. 

The facts are the evidence that you're going to use, as you make a case for your interpretation of this character, but the facts are not the main thrust of the character analysis.

Now let's look at something else that you don't want to include in your character analysis. Here we have a “JUDGEMENT: (or an evaluative statement) Marlin needs to relax.” Okay, this is true, perhaps, but it's not an inference, because it doesn't analyze Marlin, instead it just kind of judges him and says: “You know what, Marlin? Here's what I think you need to do….” But, that's not an analysis. Analysis examines the psychology, and examines the motivation and simply states it. And without judging, without advising… We don't need to say that he's a good father or he's a bad father- that's not analysis. Instead, a sentence like this might belong in your essay (and this is a true inference): “Traumatized because of his wife's death, Marlin clings to his son”. Well, this explains the motivation. Why does he hover? ‘Why?’ is a very good question to keep asking yourself as you look at all the facts, you look at each fact and you think: “Yeah, but why does he behave this way? Why does he say this bit of dialogue? Why does he respond this way?”

The ‘Why?’ questions will draw you deeper and deeper into the psychology of the character. Let's say you do have some inferences about the character, some conclusions that you've drawn from all the facts. Now you've got to put this into a thesis statement. A thesis is simply the one sentence that sums up the main point you want to make. So this is the sentence that says: ‘I'm going to prove this to you, reader. My interpretation is this…’ And then the whole essay is going to prove that that was a reasonable, logical conclusion that I drew from the facts. My inference makes sense and I'm going to prove it with all the facts of the story.

Let me give you an example of a fairly deep analytical thesis that does analyze a character: “Marlin's discovery of his own inner resources allows him to trust his son’s”. Now this could be unpacked and explained so that makes it a good thesis for an essay. For example, I've said that “Marlin discovers inner resources”, my essay is going to have to prove that he does do that. So, perhaps my first paragraph will assert that certain challenges that Marlin faces throughout his story force him to develop or discover, reveal, his inner resourcefulness, his courage, his trust in other people. He is able to discover that he does have these things inside of himself and so no matter what life brings at him he can face these things and he can overcome these challenges. Before, he did not have that faith. He had been in a victim mentality.

Now I also say here that his “discovery of his own inner resources allows him to trust his son’s”, so I'm asserting that his son has inner resources that up to now Marlin has not recognized. At the beginning of the story he does not trust his son to be able to take care of himself, to be able to have any adventures, but, by the end, he does trust his son and we see a final scene in which he has to trust that his son does make a good decision and chooses a good course of action. 

I could have another body paragraph that explains how Marlin reunites with his son, moves from the old parenting style to the new parenting style. So, the story of Marlin’s change is a change as a parent and his change in his worldview- that is the analysis part, that is the real underlying story underneath the plot that's going along, this is his psychological story and that's what you analyze in a character analysis. 

So,

1. pick a character who changes:;
2. write an analytical thesis (that is an inference that delves into the psychology of the character);
3. then support that thesis- unpack it, prove it, explain it to the reader and you'll have your character analysis!

Good luck!