Photo by Patrick Pahlke on Unsplash
Let’s apply the character framework from the day 66 post to a story’s protagonist to see how it works. We’ll use Long John Silver from Treasure Island.
We start with five to ten essential characteristics like the examples in the day 30 post with questions from the day 41 post.
Silver possesses sophisticated adaptability both mentally and physically. He is a master of moving between social worlds and can alter his personas based on his current circumstances. This is mirrored in his adapting to having lost his leg. He is strong and agile and can chase and kill his quarry.
He is strategically intelligent with ruthless pragmatism. Like Jim Hawkins, Silver is a keen observer and analyzer of human nature, constantly upgrading his model of the world. He acts to his benefit in the moment but also is considering long-term plans, creating webs of dependency and possibility. He is willing to sacrifice anything for his own survival To that end, he uses violence but with precision and specific purpose, not randomly.
Silver is the corrupted mirror of Jim's potential. This is particularly clear when we look at their character stacks side by side, which I’ll explore in a future post. The two have similar innate gifts of observation, charm, and intelligence, and if Jim was without moral guidance, he could easily become just like Silver. The story seen from Silver’s perspective is a tragic version of the coming of age story. The pirate functions as both a tempter (adventure awaits!) and cautionary example (consequences are inevitable).
Silver exhibits complex moral ambiguity. His moral operating system is more sophisticated than pure evil or simple greed. He maintains a personal code in every decision he makes while violating societal morality. Silver’s honor is applied selectively; he keeps word when given but rarely gives it. He is capable of genuine connection where interests align but remains ruthlessly self-interested.
Silver is a charismatic authority figure. He’s a natural leader, commanding through different means depending on the circumstances. He can inspire loyalty through both affection and fear. His disarming charm masks his predatory nature. His educational and/or cultural sophistication sets him apart from other pirates and gives him power over them.
These five characteristics create an antagonist who is both a compelling character in his own right and a perfect foil for Jim's journey. He's dangerous precisely because he offers a seductive alternative path that could easily become Jim's future.
With all of this (and of course the text of the story) in mind, we can develop the character stack. Note: Silver’s character stack takes into account the antagonist’s failure to transform across the story. This is important because a story is about how this antagonist adapts his tactics to changing circumstances but remains largely unchanged.
Here are the aspects of the character stack:
Worldview: The antagonist’s model of the world shapes their understanding of the goal.
Goal: This is what the antagonist is pursuing, which informs the strategy employed, but doesn’t usually change.
Strategy: This is the theory of victory. This is how they think they will achieve the goal given their worldview and, therefore, guides their tactics.
Tactics: These are context-specific methods used to carry out the strategy, which are executed through tasks.
Tasks: These are measurable units of work that implement tactical choices that can be broken into actions.
Here is Silver’s character stack:
Worldview: Silver believes that social order is a manipulable facade. To Silver, loyalty is a tool not a virtue. Whether he is correct or not, his experience tells him that polite, civilized society is interested in only a transactional relationship with him. He realizes that power belongs to those who understand human nature and that survival requires constant adaptation to the environment. While he’s continually adapting his worldview to attune to reality, he does not reassess his beliefs about what makes the world go round.
His worldview shapes his goals.
Goals: Silver consciously pursues the treasure. It will enable him to survive (avoid the gallows) and thrive to a certain extent, empowering himself and disempowering others. He seeks to prove superiority through manipulation. Ultimately, he embodies an individual who has perfected the art of survival but lives in exile and cannot transcend the self.
His goals inform his strategies.
Strategy: Silver moves fluidly between social worlds, creating and exploiting dependencies and possibilities. Reluctant to give his word, he keeps several options open. He balances charm and terror as needed.
His strategies guide his tactics.
Tactics: Silver deploys personas strategically as circumstances and his desire for survival dictate. He builds up apparent genuine connections while preserving detachment because he must be willing to kill at any moment. He applies precise violence and calculated mercy while exploiting others’ moral constraints.
His tactics are executed through his tasks.
Tasks: Silver performs tasks that balance competing factions within his sphere of influence. He establishes a trusted position on the crew while orchestrating a mutiny and persevering plausible deniability until he can’t any longer. He mentors Jim even as he prepares to sacrifice him.
Keep in mind what this accomplishes: The essential characteristics help us understand why Silver can execute his character stack. The character stack shows how his essential characteristics function and are manifest through actions. We can see how his worldview offers him more options for his concrete actions (he’s not limited by moral considerations), but it cuts him off from enduring connection that humans need to thrive. Together, the characteristics and stack help us keep our characters on track as well. We can constrain the possibilities for character decisions in a useful and specific way so that character actions are surprising yet inevitable. I’m hopeful that you can begin to see how these tools set up clear conflict that aligns with a story’s main message and essence. In a future post in this series, I’ll analyze the two stacks together to understand conflict within the story at multiple levels.
This post is part of a 75-day writing challenge and experiment. From September 9 through November 22, I'll be posting daily thoughts on writing, storytelling, and creativity based on recent readings or reflections. While my intention was to keep them very short—250 to 400 words—I've found that this range doesn't give me enough space to cover these topics adequately. I aim to keep them brief enough to be read quickly, but they will often be longer than 400 words.
At the end of the challenge, I will organize and revise the material with intention. For now, the object is to explore and share.