It can be difficult at times to distinguish between
indirect and direct characterisation. However, direct characterisation can only ever
occur in a story with a third person point of view, as it is when the writer tells us
directly about what a character is like or what a person's motives are. Indirect
characterisation is anything that allows us to infer something about a character, but it
is not stated directly.
For example, in the story, we can
tell through the setting and action that Jim and Della are poor. Consider how their
apartment is described:
A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not
exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the
mendicancy squad.
This is
indirect characterisation - the author does not tell us directly that they are poor, but
it is made clear indirectly through their setting.
However,
later on, the author uses direct characterisation to tell us about the motives of Della
and her purpose for saving money:
Tomorrow would be Christmas Day and she had only
$1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for
something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling - something just a little
bit near to being worthy of the honour of being owned by
Jim.
Note here how the author
directly tells us her motives for saving the money and how much she loves him. This is
clearly an example of direct characterisation, as it directly reveals to us information
about Della and her motives for trying to save money.
Hope
this helps! Good luck finding more examples in this great short
story.
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