Character Clues

Character Analysis

Speech and Dialogue

Socrates and Dan's lengthy conversations about the old man's philosophy reveal who they are as individuals. Take this back-and-forth between the two:

[Socrates:] “I don't really expect you to see the truth of it yet, but you need to hear it.”

“What's your point?” I asked impatiently, my attention drifting outside.

“Here is the bottom line,” Socrates said, in a voice that firmly held my attention. “You still believe that you are your thoughts and defend them as if they were treasures.” (3.89-91)

Check out that first sentence of Socrates'. Not only does he have the truth (as he sees it), but he's also downright cocky enough to say that Dan's incapable of understanding it. This is one self-assured teacher.

For his part, Dan spars back, saying ,“What's your point?” Even if he can't keep his mind quite focused yet, due to his lack of training, he still has the will to keep up with Socrates.

The final word, of course, goes to Socrates, who proceeds to drop truth (as the novel sees it) on Dan. We are reminded time and again that Socrates is the ultimate authority on life.

Actions

Actions are one of the most powerful tools of characterization: they show how characters are willing to put their beliefs into practice. As the saying goes, action speaks louder than words.

Take Dan's flip-flopping, early in the novel, over whether he should follow the conventional life of college do take up Socrates' teachings about happiness and life. Dan doesn't just mull it over in his head, thinking, "Yes, no, maybe so."

Rather, he takes such extreme actions as confronting a professor before a live audience, demanding to know why his teachings have anything to do with happiness and life (2.112). This moment brings drama to the conflict that would otherwise just be ponderings in Dan's head.

Names

In real life, you're probably named after your great-uncle or after a Twilight character. But in fiction, authors get to pick names very freely, so often the names say something about the named person.

Let's take the most obvious example in the book: Joy. “Is Joy your name or a description of your mood?” Dan asks her, “trying to be clever” (2.55). And of course it's both. She's a walking incarnation of the unreasonable happiness Dan seeks: 100%, all the way down to her name. And, of course, once Dan obtains unreasonable happiness, he gets to marry her. Maybe he changes his name to Mr. Joy?