For the past few weeks, we have been talking about characters, weak and strong. For the last part of this discussion, I will talk about weak male characters, and how to use them effectively.

Weakness

What defines weakness in a character? Weakness is the lack of strength. That seems obvious. At the beginning of the character articles, I mentioned the different kinds of strength: Physical, Mental, Willful, Spiritual, and Emotional. A character is weak if they lack these strengths. But you may recall that in my previous post, about strong male characters, I mentioned four things that are shared by all good, strong male characters. Strength, direction, resolve, and leadership. These four make a strong man. The lack of any one of these four makes a weak man. A man with strength, resolve, and leadership, but without direction, is weak. A man with resolve and direction and strength, but without leadership, is weak.

Weak Male Characters

Almost every main male character from a good story begins weak, and grows to be strong. That is their character growth, becoming a strong man. These stories can be very, very effective. Side characters are a little more difficult to work with, since they do not receive the full attention of the reader. Therefore, they can be difficult to examine, and sometimes it can be difficult to realize that they are actually weak. Again, I turned to Lord of the Rings for examples of weak male characters.

Examples

Boromir – This character is an example of one of the characters who appears strong, but is in fact weak. He shares the same traits as the strong male characters mentioned in the previous post. He is a leader, he is a warrior, he has had difficulties, and he has a goal. But he is still weak. Why? He is in the position of leadership, but he does not take the lead. He is a warrior, but knowing how to fight does not make you strong. There have been difficulties in his life, and he has striven to overcome them, but his difficulties have been rather light. In truth, he has been spoiled and given everything he could possibly want. And he has a goal, but his goal is more for strength and self-gain than the good of those he is responsible for. Everything he does, until his last battle, is from selfishness and pride.

Denethor – Denethor and Boromir are very similar. They have come from the same position to the same position. Denethor has fallen from glory to hopelessness, surrounded as he is by enemies on all sides, and he has sunk into his despair. This is not the way of the strong man. The strong man stays on his path. Denethor has turned to the side of the road and waited for the end. He is in a position of leadership, but he will not lead. He will not fight, he does not attempt to overcome his difficulties, and his only goal, in the end, is to die. The difference between him and Boromir is that, at the end, Boromir decides to protect, to lead, he has a goal, even though it costs him his life. Denethor simply burns in his despair. His weakness destroyed him, and if not for the strong men around him, who took up the charge and the responsibility that should have been his, his whole kingdom, too, would have died.

Theoden – This is an example of the change from weakness to strength. At the beginning, Theoden is weak. He has given up his command, handed over his kingdom and his people to another, convinced that he is old and failing and all that he can do is hope for the best and allow everyone to do what they wish. He has no resolve, he has no leadership. He has wishes, desires, but that is not a goal. But then, he changes. He stands up to the wrongdoing in his land, though he is certain he will die, and leads his people out into battle himself. He comes face-to-face with one of the most evil and fearsome characters in the whole series. And he dies. But he died doing what he knew was right, in spite of everything, and that made him strong.

Effectiveness

Now that we have seen examples of weak characters, here are two ways that you can make a weak male character effective.

Character Growth

The first and probably most obvious way is to show character growth. A weak man finds himself in a position where he must either grow strong, or die. He cannot get out of it, and he cannot ignore it. He struggles, he fights, he falls into despair, he finds hope, and in the end, he comes out a changed man, a stronger man than he was when he went in. Not perfect, certainly, but strong. These characters are effective because they give the reader hope, they give them instruction, inspiration, resolve, that in the reader’s life, they can, too, be strong.

Cautionary Tale

The second way to make a weak male character effective is the cautionary tale, the Greek Tragedy. At the beginning, it is the same as the first way. A weak man finds himself in a position where he has to grow, or die, and he cannot get out of it. But in this case, he does not grow. He refuses. He would rather stay weak, and, of course, through his weakness, he dies. These characters are effective using despair rather than hope. They show the reader the life the reader does not want to live, the life the reader could live if they remain weak and refuse to change. They teach what happens to people who refuse to grow.

Conclusion

Weak male characters, when done right, are just as effective as strong male characters. Through them, the reader can learn, whether from the character’s change, or just the opposite, the character’s stubborn resolve not to change. I hope you have enjoyed reading about strong and weak characters. Don’t forget to check out my new poem, One Foot In Heaven. Until next week, keep writing, keep learning, and keep growing.