I chose to reflect on the main character (Brian) from the book "Hatchet" because there are many ways that his character "came to life" by a very detailed description of his personality throughout the book. I'll go through each of the facets of the big five, and explain how Gary Paulson (the Author) was able to develop Brian's personality throughout the book.
1. OPENNESS - Throughout the book, Brian is basically forced to become open to new experiences. He was involved in a plane crash and encountered many obstacles that he had to overcome. Although he didn't choose to be "open" to the new experiences, if he hadn't accepted the events with an open mind, we probably wouldn't have been able to make it out of the woods.
2. CONSCIENTIOUSNESS - Since he was from the city originally, we don't know for certain how conscientious Brian was before the crash. Afterwards, however, once he lived in the wilderness for a while he started to appreciate the environment more and became more conscientious of the wildlife around him. He also was deeply impacted by his parent's divorce, which might also show something about his conscientiousness of his family.
3. EXTRAVERSION - This personality trait was shown in Brian when he was bold enough to decide that he was going to do everything he could to insure his survival. Also, since he was riding with only one other person (I believe) in the plane when it crashed, it shows that he was willing to travel by himself at a young age, which might imply some level of extraversion.
4. AGREEABLENESS - I'm not entirely sure when Brian showed agreeableness during the book. I think he probably became more agreeable as the book went on. At the beginning, he was bitter about his parent's divorce, which he retaliated against them fore. Towards the end of the book, he appreciated life more and was able to see past people's faults.
5. NEUROTICISM - Brian portrayed negative emotions at many points throughout the book. He was mad about his parent's divorce, he was discouraged when the plane went down, and he was worried he wouldn't be able to make it out of the woods alive.
Interesting topic. I think it is an efficient way to analyze the characteristics of the roles in novels, which helps us to obtain a deeper perception of those roles and of the writers' purposes. Moreover, the Big Five may help us to bulid characters if we are goning to create our own novels or screenplays.
Nice analysis! I loved this book growing up. I think it's especially interesting to see how his personality emerges due to the unfortunate situation he is put in. In this way, we are allowed to see his "true colors."
This is a great way to analyze the main character of a novel, noticing that the five traits always show themselves, even in a work of fiction. Each obstacle Brian faces pushes his limits and forces his personality to power through the struggle.
Interesting analysis and good application of the Big Five! I agree with most of your analysis, except maybe the neuroticism score. I don't think that because a person responds to a plane crash with negative emotions, or the divorce of parents means they have a high score in neuroticism. Brian could have displayed low levels of neuroticism and his personality could still be described by the Big Five. I would conclude that he is neurotic if he was especially negative about the plane ride before it crashed.
This book was my life when I was little! Thanks for the blast from the past, haha! The main character was an appropriate subject to do personality analysis on. :D I think the most prevalent of the big 5 was, for Brian, openness. You'd have to be open to new experiences to survive for long in the wilderness.
Thanks for the fun blog post!