contend. Flat &Round Characters Flat characters are those who embody or represent a single characteristic,trait,or idea,or at most a very limited number of such qualities.Flat characters are often referred to as type characters,as one-dimensional characters,or when they are distorted to created humor,as caricatures.Flat characters usually play a minor role in the stories in which they appear,but not always so.For example,Montresor and Fortunato are the protagonist and antagonist,respectively,in Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado.Yet they are both flat characters:Montresor,who leads the unsuspecting Fortunato to be walled up in his family crypt,embodies nothing but cold-blooded revenge.And Fortunato,who appears dressed in the cap and motley of the jester complete with bells,is quite literally a fool.Flat characters have much in common with the kind of stock characters who appear again and again in certain types of literary works (e.g.the rich uncle of domestic comedy,the hard-boiled private eye of the detective story,the female confidante of romance). Round characters are just the opposite.They embody a number of qualities and traits,and are complex multidimensional characters of considerable intellectual and emotional depth who have the capacity to grow and change.Major characters in fiction are usually round characters,and it is with the very complexity of such characters that most of us become engrossed and fascinated.The terms round and flat do not automatically imply value judgments.Each kind of such characters has its use---witness Poe's successful use of flat characters to dramatize the theme of revenge in The Cask of Amontillado.Even when they are minor characters,as they usually are, flat characters are often convenient devices to draw out and help us to understand the personalities of characters who are more fully realized.Finally,round characters are not necessarily more alive or more convincing than flat ones.If they are,it is because the author had succeeded in making them so. Dynamic Static Characterscontend. Flat &Round Characters Flat characters are those who embody or represent a single characteristic, trait, or idea, or at most a very limited number of such qualities. Flat characters are often referred to as type characters, as one-dimensional characters, or when they are distorted to created humor, as caricatures. Flat characters usually play a minor role in the stories in which they appear, but not always so. For example, Montresor and Fortunato are the protagonist and antagonist, respectively, in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado. Yet they are both flat characters: Montresor, who leads the unsuspecting Fortunato to be walled up in his family crypt, embodies nothing but cold-blooded revenge. And Fortunato, who appears dressed in the cap and motley of the jester complete with bells, is quite literally a fool. Flat characters have much in common with the kind of stock characters who appear again and again in certain types of literary works (e.g. the rich uncle of domestic comedy, the hard-boiled private eye of the detective story, the female confidante of romance). Round characters are just the opposite. They embody a number of qualities and traits, and are complex multidimensional characters of considerable intellectual and emotional depth who have the capacity to grow and change. Major characters in fiction are usually round characters, and it is with the very complexity of such characters that most of us become engrossed and fascinated. The terms round and flat do not automatically imply value judgments. Each kind of such characters has its use---witness Poe’s successful use of flat characters to dramatize the theme of revenge in The Cask of Amontillado. Even when they are minor characters, as they usually are, flat characters are often convenient devices to draw out and help us to understand the personalities of characters who are more fully realized. Finally, round characters are not necessarily more alive or more convincing than flat ones. If they are, it is because the author had succeeded in making them so. Dynamic & Static Characters