characterreflecting

Characterreflecting refers to a narrative technique in which a character engages in deliberate contemplation about past events, beliefs, or identity. The technique aims to reveal the character’s inner life and to illuminate how their thoughts influence present actions and future choices. It is often expressed when a character looks back on a decision or evaluates their values in light of new information.

Characterreflecting can be realized through inner monologue, diary or letter entries, retrospective narration, or dialogue with another character who serves as a sounding board. The form may be explicit, with a clear confession or speculation, or implicit, conveyed through mood, memory, and choice of detail.

The purpose is to deepen understanding of motives and moral complexity, reveal character arc, and highlight thematic concerns. It can create empathy, clarify conflict, and provide a bridge between plot events and character change. However, excessive or poorly integrated reflection can slow pace or feel didactic.

Relationship to related concepts: it overlaps with stream of consciousness and introspection, and it can be delivered through a reliable or unreliable narrative voice. It may function alongside other devices such as frame narration or backstory.

In practice, it appears across genres—from literary fiction to drama and film—especially in stories about identity, responsibility, or redemption. See also inner monologue, introspection, narrative voice, unreliable narrator.