For the past few weeks, my classmates and I have been reading the short story " A Visit to Grandmother " by William Melvin Kelley. The author presents the characters' traits throughout the story using two different methods, direct and indirect characterization. For instance, the author presents the characteristics of Charles's brother GL in direct characterization where he clearly states GL traits and they are not portrayed through dialogue."GL, who seemed part con man, part practical joker and part Don Juan." Then also comes the example of describing Grandmother's characteristics, also through direct stating and not dialogue. " She looked like a doll, made of black straw, the wrinkles in her face running in one direction like the head of a broom. Her hair was white and coarse and grew out straight from her head..." While on the other hand, Charles's characteristics can be inferred from dialogue, "but Charles wouldn't never send my grandson to see me. I never even hear from Charles." We can infer that Charles and his mother aren't close and there seems to be some kind of conflict between them. Even though the grandmother is directly characterized, she is also indirectly characterized, " The old lady eyed his father."Rose, who that? Rose?" She squinted. " We can infer from the above selection that the grandmother has poor eyesight. Although she squinted, she still couldn't identify who was at the door.
-D.A
