“Character Analysis”

Had to analyze a character from “The Last Sin-Eater”. Despite my boring rendition, it’s actually a fairly good book. Also, I wanted to compare him to my principal, but my teacher nixed that idea. Killjoy…

I have chosen to perform a character analysis of Brogan Kai, the primary antagonist of the story. He does seem like a stereotypical Welsh character, in that he’s: loud, rude, strong, brutish, and not very bright. (I don’t invent stereotypes. The people who do invent stereotypes are frequently unfair and cruel in their creation. Don’t shoot the messenger.)

The character is clearly static, as he remains hot-headed and temperamental throughout the book. Despite the fact that he’s the main antagonist, he doesn’t appear that often, which leads me to the conclusion that he’s actually a minor character. The author discloses his being mostly through descriptions from other townspeople, although occasionally his terrifying actions speak for themselves. He KILLS the ‘Man of God’, which means he clearly is close-minded.

His psychological profile… this man appears to be so messed up, I would recommend a psychiatric hospital, or possibly even an exorcist!  It is this crazed persona of his that drives a decent part of the plot, keeping the village in fear of him, and obeying his more-than-eccentric whims. Disturbingly, this character actually IS believable, because in this age of global media, you actually hear about people like him (and worse) on a regular basis in the news.

Brogan clearly has no ethics, or at least what few he has are warped beyond recognition. He rules the town with an iron fist and a will of steel, and he clearly isn’t “Trying to do the right thing in the wrong way”. His motivation for the control of the town is probably the same as many people in his kind of position – he’s power hungry and a little crazy, he likes being able to order others around.

Brogan consistently behaves in a way that means you can only truly describe him as a filthy b****** (We’ve read that word – out loud – in our short story unit, so don’t get all mad at me for alluding to colorful language.) He is unquestionably erratic, seeming to fly off the handle at any small thing, but he’s predictably erratic – he’s always going to be crabby about something.

He reigns over the town with fear, as none dare oppose him. Indeed, when he discovers that Kadi has been visiting the “Man of God” against his declaration, he chokes her – nearly to death.

As I’ve covered in the pieces above, Brogan Kai has a plethora of weaknesses and faults, not the least of which is pride. He also is afflicted by jealousy, a love of power, unscrupulousness, and a very short temper – sometimes it seems as though he lacks a temper at all!

By my judgment, he doesn’t seem to have ANY redeeming qualities at all. He was clearly not intended to be the ‘sympathetic’ variety of villain.

As far as moral constitution goes, he doesn’t seem to have much – only that when he makes a decision, he stands by it.

His conflict is with all of the townspeople who are disobeying him, and the people who don’t stand by his decisions. This ultimately leads to his downfall.

In short, I have come to the conclusion that Brogan Kai is a horrible person [SATIRE] that is not unlike an unholy combination of Genghis Khan and Adolf Hitler. [/SATIRE]

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