Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Sling Blade

Thoughts and Opinions

Every main character in Sling Blade is defined by the thoughts and opinions of others. How you view each character comes down to who you trust.

Karl takes everything people say to him at face value. That means he believes that Frank is a good boy, Linda is a good mother, Vaughan is a good friend, and Doyle is a monster.

But if Doyle had got to Karl first, Karl might have got to thinking that Frank is a terrible kid, Vaughan is a stupid meddler, and Linda…well, Doyle doesn't have anything bad to say about Linda, so she must be fine.

Based on what you see as the viewer, are these facts, or are they opinions? A little of both?

Physical Appearances

You can't judge a book by its cover, and you can't judge a man by his bad haircut. Karl has terrible hair, which is to be expected from a man who doesn't care about his own—and who lives in a mental hospital.

But Vaughan also has a similar—and similarly terrible—haircut. Vaughan, too, is an outsider. His haircut, which he must have lifted from a fashion magazine, is out of place in small-town Arkansas. But both men are comfortable in their identities, and they don't plan on changing their hairstyles anytime soon. Bad hair, don't care.

Actions

Karl is good with words, but he's conflicted about how to use them. Is it a sling blade, or is it a Kaiser blade? Is it hell, or is it Hades? Is it real, or is it Memorex? Karl's actions are just as conflicted, too. He's a gentle not-so-giant, carrying laundry, befriending a young boy, and easily fitting in anywhere he goes.

But he's also a killer. By the end of the movie, he has killed three people. Which of his actions speak the loudest and define him as a person?

Conversely, Doyle says a lot of terrible, despicable things, but we never see him do anything close to as violent as what Karl does. The worst we see from Doyle is that he breaks a window and pushes Linda (very hard). There is often the threat of violence, but is he dangerous? Vaughan calls Doyle a monster, but do Doyle's actions make him seem so monstrous? Or is the threat of violence as bad as violence itself?