Unhatched

Creating a Functional Interest (Part 7) by Caleb Michael Sarvis

My name is Caleb Michael Sarvis. I’m a writer, a thinker, and currently a self-reflective incubator. Welcome to a blog series in which I’ll be analyzing both the practical and interesting ways imaginary characters can play in fiction, including The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien, 2014’s Best Picture Winner Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), and other short fiction.

Reason, Dreams, and Conclusion

Hemingway, Carver, and other post-Enlightenment authors championed realism in its most literal sense. If art is the representation of real-life then art must be as close to real-life as possible. Angels don’t exist in real life. Tigers don’t associate with six-year old boys. A deer carcass doesn’t orchestrate an existential crisis. These claims are fallacies. If not for imagination, then we’d have no fictions. In his “First Manifesto on Surrealism,” Andre Breton argues that we mistakenly dismiss the significance of dreams. Like the imaginary character, Breton believes dreams are a clearer representation of what we desire, and as a result, the dreamer is a more content man, Continue reading “Creating a Functional Interest (Part 7) by Caleb Michael Sarvis” →

Unhatched

Creating a Functional Interest (Part 6) by Caleb Michael Sarvis

Stories by Chris Adrian

In his story “A Better Angel,” Chris Adrian creates a world in which a guardian angel is something more of a self-righteous partner. The narrator, Carl, is an impaired (as in swiping morphine, Percocet and Ativan when he can) pediatrician that’s left to deal with his dying father because his three older sisters are pregnant at the same time and aren’t doctors like him. Nor do they have guardian angels like Carl. He’s had his since he was six, and now that he has to face and care for his dying father, someone he has little to no relationship with, his angel is pushing him towards resolution. When Carl resists going to see his father, the angel is quick to judge, Continue reading “Creating a Functional Interest (Part 6) by Caleb Michael Sarvis” →

Unhatched

Creating a Functional Interest (Part 5) by Caleb Michael Sarvis

“Still Life” by Jason Ockert

In his story “Still Life”, Jason Ockert captures this idea of imaginary character through the carcass of a dead deer on the side of railroad tracks. The protagonist, Everett, is a high school student that’s artistically inclined. So much so that when his favorite teacher, Mr. Ralph, gives him a D on his self-portrait, Everett concocts a means of getting back at Mr. Ralph: runaway and fake his death. The class takes a field trip to the local tracks via the Adopt-a-Railroad program, and they set about picking up all the trash before the bus returns to school. Everett discovers the dead buck in a ditch and as he studies it, his subconscious comes to life, Continue reading “Creating a Functional Interest (Part 5) by Caleb Michael Sarvis” →

Unhatched

Creating a Functional Interest (Part 4) by Caleb Michael Sarvis

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

The role of the imaginary character as both a means of interest and functional character is evident in the screenplay for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo. Throughout the screenplay, Riggan Thompson, the protagonist, continually argues with his imaginary counter-part, Birdman, who appears to represent the younger, happier version of Riggan. Riggan is a fifty-five year-old actor that used to play the superhero Birdman in a franchise similar to that of Ironman or Captain America. Continue reading “Creating a Functional Interest (Part 4) by Caleb Michael Sarvis” →