Interesting topic, Saucepan Man! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
Orson Scott Card, in his book,
Characters & Viewpoint, wrote that there are
Quote:
four basic factors that are present in every story, with varying degrees of emphasis. It is the balance among these factors that determines what sort of characterization a story must have, should have, or can have [author's italics].
The four factors are milieu, idea, character, and event.
The milieu is the world surrounding the characters - the landscape, the interior spaces, the surrounding cultures the characters emerge from and react to; everything from weather to traffic laws.
The idea is the information that the reader is meant to discover or learn during the process of the story.
Character is the nature of one or more of the people in the story - what they do and why they do it. It usually leads to or arises from a conclusion about human nature in general.
The events of the story are everything that happens and why.
These factors usually overlap. ...... Each factor is present in all stories, to one degree or another. Every factor has an implicit structure; if that factor dominates a story, its structure determines the overall shape of the story.
|
Card goes on to describe
how LotR is a
milieu story, and shows how Tolkien's characterization is appropriate to a
milieu story. Card didn't discuss Pullman's story, but I have read it, and would venture to say that Pullman's story, for all its milieu, is a
characterization story. Its structure is centered around the two major protagonists.
They are what drives the story's structure. Since it's a characterization story,
psychological depth is going to be a primary element. The characters are going to be deep, deep, deep, because that's what's appropriate to a characterization story.
Yes, there's psychological depth to Tolkien's main characters, but as one of you said, it's implied.
Happy Discussing! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]