Character count

[misterwoe]

I haven't read The Stand for a couple of years, but after reading that UTD supposedly has around 100 characters ... I'm wondering how many The Stand has.

Does anybody know?

[Moderator]

I've never bothered to do an actual count, but here's the character list (http://www.stephenking.com/library/novel/stand:_the_complete__uncut_edition_the_characters.html) if you'd like to do so. :smile2:

[Charms7]

I didn't worry about how many characters there were in The Stand. Just what role everyone was playing so I could keep up.

[misterwoe]

wow, thanks! that's an impressive list. it looks like more than 100.

[K4driver]

I gave up at Frannie...more like 300 at that point I think

[misterwoe]

in the list i noticed a lot of these names are "mention only" in the book, so they shouldn't be tallied in the actual count. What do you think K4?

[K4driver]

I'm going to play a little game called devils advocate. on one hand...They were in the book, so they are characters in the bigger story, therefore making them characters no matter how minor.
on the other hand though, They were not crucial to the story....aka, frannie's friend she was writing the letter to, or maybe The ones who were mentioned dying from the darwin phase of the disease. So It can go either way. But For me, Since they were mentioned,they are part of the story, no matter how small of a part they played(even if they did not play a part).

[misterwoe]

I see your point, K4. But for me, I think a character is truly a character when the author allows for at least a minimal amount of developing (something flesh and blood).

Pen pals, ancestors (particularly if recounted in anecdotes or flashbacks) and even the old pickle who sits behind the counter at the bait shop, selling worms and stories about the Big One -- they are all characters.

But I think if someone is mentioned only once, we get no detail about them, and they don't even come on stage ... well it certainly is debatable.

Pointedly, it'll be interesting to go into UTD, knowing it has 100 characters, just to see how Mr. King pulled it off. I'm interested in a good story, but as a writer, I'm also interested in the technical aspects.

[michal]

Salem's Lot also has quite a few characters, but then again - it's hard to compete with the epic length of The Stand I suppose.