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Dramatica Theory Book
Chapter
28: Storytelling and Encoding Objective Characters (Continued)
Objective
Elements and the Subjective Characters
Elements serve to
show what the inequity looks like from all possible points of view and
thereby hone in on the source: the one bad apple in the basket. All 64
Elements in this level must be represented in character form in order
to fully explore the story's inequity. Of all these, two special characters
bear special attention: the Main and Obstacle.
The Main and Obstacle characters do double-duty by carrying the Subjective
Storyline and also playing an Objective role by being assigned to two
different players that contain an Objective function. The player containing
the Main Character always contains the Crucial Element in its Objective
role. However, that element does not always have to be the Solution. It
might be the Problem, Focus, or Direction Element, depending upon the
dynamics. It is this duality that makes those two players the linchpins
of the story: the hinge upon which the Objective AND Subjective Problems
and storylines converge.
The player containing the Obstacle Character also contains the Element
diagonal to the crucial element: the other half of the dynamic pair. In
this way as a Main Character or Obstacle Character comes to eventually
change or remain steadfast, the subjective problem influences how that
player will respond in regard to the Objective Element it also contains.
Like magnets with North and South poles, what happens on the Subjective
side will influence the Objective stand, and when pressures force a change
in the Objective stand, it will influence the Subjective point of view.
It is no surprise that this relationship between Objective and Subjective
dynamics in characters has seemed so indefinably obscure for so long.
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