“THE WONDER YEARS” JACK ARNOLD: CHARACTER ANALYSIS

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

“The study of character is essential not only to reading literature but to understanding people.”

(Burke, 2000)

CHARACTER ANALYSIS: REVIEW

Methods of characterization

•Character’s appearance

•Character’s words

•Character’s actions

•Author’s direct words about the character

•Others’ words to or about the character

•How others treat the character

•How others think about the character

•The thoughts and fears of the character.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Other questions:

•What is the importance of the character to the story?

•When and where does the character live?

•What are the character’s strengths and weaknesses?

•What does the character do?

•What are some of the character’s qualities?

•Does the character develop or change as the story progresses?

•How are issues of gender, race, and social class important?

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

So where do we start writing?

We can look at Jack’s predominant traits:

CONSERVATIVE: He is a child of the Depression, and his values reflect this: frugal, hardworking, no-nonsense; appreciates the value of a dollar; modest dresser (work clothes, plaid shirts).

TRADITIONAL: He demands respect from his children; has a stay-at-home wife, Norma; cannot allow his unmarried 19-year-old daughter to live with a man; loves family traditions (birthday parties, fishing trips)

STUBBORN: Hard for him to give in during arguments, especially with Karen; refuses to ask for directions when he and Kevin are lost; when upset resorts to “I don’t want to talk about it.”

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

What else do we know about Jack?• He is 43 years old.; stocky, rugged, tough guy.• Frustrated with his middle-management job at

Norcom, a military parts supplier.• He is a handyman: loves to fix things and to

work with tools; a man’s man who loves the outdoors.

• An Army veteran who served in Korea.• Doesn’t show emotions easily: hard for him to

talk to his growing children, especially about such sensitive topics as the facts of life.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

• REALLY IMPORTANT!• Loving father: He puts his family first. He

loves being a hero to his children.• What else?

•He is struggling to adapt to the changing times in which the series takes place: the socially turbulent, late 1960s and early ‘70s, when traditional values were challenged and generations clashed.•We MUST put Jack in this time period early in the paper.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

So how do we start formulating this portrait?

A good attention-getter is always a good strategy:

A child’s realization that his parents are amorous creatures can be unsettling. A father’s discovery that his 13-year-old son is also sexually aware can be a downright disturbing epiphany, especially for Jack Arnold, the taciturn and traditional father of the television series “The Wonder Years.”

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Notice what we have done here right away:

• We have identified Jack.

• We have identified the television series.

Next

• We establish the controlling purpose: the sentence(s) that establish who Jack is and establish that this is going to be a paper discussing who Jack is.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS• Let’s back up to the last few words of our attention-getter and build on it:

…the traditional father of the television series “The Wonder Years.” Jack’s conservative nature, traditional values, and resistance to change are at constant odds with shifting social and family dynamics. Raising three teenagers during the socially turbulent late 1960s and early ‘70s with his stay-at-home wife, Norma, Jack struggles to maintain paternal authority and his old-school ideals. He does so while confronting middle age, an unrewarding job, and conflicting emotions that indicate he is, more than he openly shows, a man who loves his family deeply and is committed to preserving it.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Let’s look at what we have done just in the introduction:

• We have indicated that Jack is the subject of our paper.

• We have put Jack in his time period.• We have established his family and his

role in it.• We have identified the struggles he faces.• We have established that at his core, he is

a loving father and husband.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Now, we build on the introduction with specific details in paragraph 2:

This devotion is illustrated most clearly in the frequent, often humorous, and always poignant interaction between Jack, 43, and his children, including Karen, his rebellious, college-age daughter; Wayne, the middle, mischievous son; and Kevin, his youngest son, who narrates the series through fondly nostalgic voiceovers as an adult.

Let’s stop here to see what we have accomplished.• We have introduced Jack’s children.• We have included a critical component of the series: that

this is told through flashback by the adult Kevin.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Let’s continue:

From these relationships, as well as Kevin’s adult perspective, Jack emerges as a man whose no-nonsense ways and mindset were forged during his Depression-era childhood, hardened during his stint in the Army during the Korean War, and shaken to their foundations in the socially revolutionary 1960s.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

It is clear that Jack is bewildered by the changes engulfing the country he is so patriotically devoted to, and the progeny that only a few years earlier idolized him without question, whether as the year-round, family breadwinner or as “king for a day” on his birthdays.

What have we accomplished? I call it providing “mortar” for the structure: providing the little details that fill in the gaps:

• Depression-era childhood

• He is the family breadwinner

• Stint in the Army

• Kids idolized him.

• Loves being “king for a day.”

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Let’s continue:

This upheaval is seen in an exchange between Jack and Karen, when Karen reveals she is moving out of her college dormitory to move into an off-campus house with her boyfriend, Michael. With his beefy arms pressed tightly against his stocky, solid, six-foot frame, Jack strenuously disapproves of this non-marital living arrangement but is scoffed at by his liberated daughter:

JACK. Your mother and I did not raise you to live this way.

KAREN. Dad, these aren’t the Dark Ages. Times have changed. Things have changed.

JACK. I haven’t changed! I raised you with values! I raised you with better values than this!

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

When neither concedes his or her position, Jack withdraws into a defensive and dismissive posture of “I don’t want to talk about it” whenever Karen’s living arrangements are subsequently mentioned. Yet, it is clear that he is emotionally wounded by his daughter’s defiance and his growing sense that his children are not only growing older, but they are also slipping away from him.

Let’s stop here and see what we have done:

More mortar:

• Physical traits: beefy arms pressed tightly against his stocky, solid, six-foot frame.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

We have also added dialogue. Let’s make sure we recognize the formatting:

• Indent the spoken passages five spaces. If you have two or more lines spoken by the same character, indent all lines after the first one an additional three spaces.

KAREN. Dad, these aren’t the Dark Ages. Times have changed. Things have changed.

• Capitalize the names of the speakers, followed by a period.

• Do not put the dialogue in quotation marks.

• After the dialogue is finished, provide more analysis, going back to the left margin (do not indent).

• Undergo that process for your other points/character traits for Jack, and you will have a fine body for your paper.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Reminders:• Write in present tense.• Write in third person (this includes avoiding second-

person “you” when possible).• Format your title page according to MLA style. At the left

margin:

Your name Your Last Name 1

Communications 9 Honors

 Mr. Johnston

 17 April 2013

TITLE IS CENTERED

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

•Follow the grammar concepts we have covered to date:

• Make sure your pronouns and antecedents agree.• Write in complete sentences. Avoid comma

splices.• Write in parallel structure.• Use appropriate punctuation.

•Double-space throughout.•12-point type.•2.5 to 4 pages ought to do it.