THE SKILL OF CHARACTER CREATION IN CHINNAPPA BHARATI’S NOVELS (BASED ON THE NOVEL “PAVLAI”)

Abstract

This article examines the skill of character creation in the novel “Pavlai” by Chinnappa Bharati, one of the prominent representatives of modern Tamil literature. The artistic and psychological characteristics of the characters are analyzed through the images of Pavlai, Periyannan, and Thankamma. Particular attention is paid to the functions of portraiture, psychological description, retrospection, interior monologue, dialogue, contrast, symbolism, and details of nature in character creation. The study establishes that the author shapes the characters not merely through their outward appearance or participation in events, but also through their inner experiences, memories, verbal behavior, and relationships with other characters. It is demonstrated that the image of Pavlai embodies the conflict between a woman’s personal feelings and socio-moral norms; the image of Periyannan embodies love, forgiveness, and loneliness; while the image of Thankamma embodies labor, resilience, and social vulnerability. The symbolic details of water, the neem tree, and the pigeon are also analyzed in terms of their function in revealing the psychological states of the characters. The article interprets the characters not separately, but as an integral system possessing semantic and psychological interconnections.