Characters and Characterization of The Hunt for Red October Essay

Characters are the most important part of any story, and so is the way that they are introduced. Characterization sets the foundation for how we view and think of the character, and it makes the character who he/she is, a wonderful plot could be ruined by underdeveloped Cardboard characters that subtract from the overall quality of the story. And this is no truer than in The Hunt for Red October. In The Hunt for Red October Clancy has put together a great story that is very detailed technologically but is lacking in character development. This lack of skill can be seen through examination of the characters Marko Ramius and Jack Ryan, as well as careful examination of Clancys way of characterization of those characters and the side characters.

The character with the most history and complexity is usually the character that is most interesting. That is true in The Hunt for Red October in the case of Marko Ramius. He is the most complex character in this story, and to understand him one must look to his past, to his motives and to the actions he takes through the course of the story. In the story Ramius is a Soviet submarine commander, the son of a high-ranking Communist Party member. He was brought up by his grandmother who read him passages from the Bible, the reader should keep in mind that this is in Soviet Russia where religion was seen as obstructive to communistic ideals and was illegal. These Bible reading instilled Ramius with morals, not faith in a religion, that he kept secret his entire life for fear of criticism (Clancy, 31). One Summer in Ramius childhood he met an old sea captain with whom he became friends. This sea captain told Ramius stories of his past on ships and this set the foundation for Ramius love of ships, especially submarines. Ramius loved his father and respected him when he was young but as Ramius grew up he saw the wrongs of the Party and of his father and tried to distance himself from him, especially when it came to advancing in life. He did excellently in school and went to the Naval Academy, where he advanced quickly through the ranks due to his fathers influence, he disliked this, but he earned more positions based on merit which satisfied him. At school he learned all there was to know about submarines, and the nuclear power plants that powered them. He quickly became a sub commander, and one of the best ones. All this history helped build the character of Ramius, and our understanding of him (Beetz, 55-62). In the story Ramius defected from the Soviet union by stealing the nuclear submarine he was in charge of. It is necessary to understand why he did this so one must look to his past, and to find the tragedy that motivates him. This tragedy was the death of his wife, Natalia. She was pregnant and was going to give birth so she was taken to the hospital, at the hospital there were no French-made drugs left, only soviet drugs. These drugs are not effective because socialism doesnt produce good products. The doctor that was to operate on Natalia came in drunk, and ended up killing his wife and baby, but the system wouldnt punish him because the doctors father was a high-ranking Party member. On top of all that the communistic view of atheism took away Ramius hope of ever seeing his wife again in the after-life. For all of these reasons Ramius had a vendetta against the Soviet Union and decides to defect (Clancy, 40). Ramius was a ruthless person, he had a goal in mind and intended for nothing to stop him, so when the political captain on the Red October did not agree with Ramius idea of defecting, he killed him and made it look like an accident. This showed Ramius devotion to his cause, and is an example of his ruthless characteristic (Clancy, 13). Clancy intended to make Ramius seem American in his ideals and morals, and to make him more relatable to an American reader by making him anti-soviet (Garson, 49-51). Clancy has worked hard on this character, Ramius is in fact the most well developed character in this book and most complex. That is why he is the most important character, and he is the sole example of good characterization by Clancy.

Protagonists are often the most important character in a story. Though in this book that is not the case. Jack Ryan is the other main character, though far less interesting. To gain understanding of Ryan one must look to his past, to his actions as the protagonist, and one must examine his role as a character and his characterization. Jack was a family man, the most unlikely of protagonists in a novel that is based around war. He was also shy and humble and he was very scholarly. This also separated him from other protagonists. He was a normal person in almost all respects, having a wife and daughter and fears (mostly flying) (Beetz, 55-62). Before his role as a contact for the CIA in England, he was just a history book writer, and before that he had a more interesting past. He was a marine, and though not much was said about this past it is known that he is involved in a plane crash that severely injured him and founded his fear of flying. He was also knighted, and this happened because while on a bus in England he foiled a terrorist plot to kill two royal family members. This also gave him good reputation in England, that helped him get the job as a contact in England (Garson, 49-51). As a character, Ryan is not exactly a good one. He was all too flawless despite a fear of spying and flying and tendencies to be lazy, he was perfect. He is also too virtuous (1Tom, 70-71). Ryan is a dull character who goes through no real developments throughout the story (eventually being able to sleep on a plane excluded). He also was too adhesive to orders despite disagreeing with them, such as spying on a friendly nation that he had earned a good reputation in, England, and flying on a Harrier jump jet. He is very American, he watched a three hour football game as soon as he gets home from England, he is also apathetic to working out and is getting fat. And he wass too modest, instead of making up and answer to a question he didnt know the answer to, that had been asked by the president, he simply says that he does not know, despite being a naval expert. All these characteristics make Ryan a good character but he has no development and the reader doesnt get as interested in him, a simple American, as the reader can get interested in a defecting Russian sub commander with a grudge against his country. So Ryan is a good example of Clancys need to work on his character development (Garson, 49-51)

Characterization is the way an author introduces and develops a character, this is as important to the character as their role in the story. The way Tom Clancy introduced his characters is good and bad just not balanced. So to see this on must look at the introduction and development of Marko Ramius, Jack Ryan and adjunct characters. Marko Ramius was characterized well. On the first page the reader sees him in boarding a secret missile submarine in the stormy arctic, and just a few pages later he follows his plan and kills his political officer (Garson, 49-51). In the same chapter the reader finds out that he has a tragic past, he has a grudge against the Party and that he is bold, strong-willed, and a keen observer of his arctic surroundings. Ryan on the other hand has a lackluster entrance. In one page all we know is that he is a writer, has a family and is living in England, not too much for the hero of a story (Beetz, 55-62). Ryan wass introduced sitting at a computer talking with his young daughter (Garson, 49-51). The adjunct characters in the novel are clich, there are the defiant non-defecting soviets and the drones of the American military (Setlowe, 15). Mancuso the Dallas commander was a stereotyped American soldier, young, doesnt interpret orders, is brash, aggressive, and confident (Beetz, 55-62). Clancys writing style in this novel is more focused on the technology rather than the characters, he spends more than three times the pages describing the nuclear power plant powering the Red October than describing Ramius motives for defecting (Setlowe, 15). Clancys frequent use of names of weapons and other military hardware would confuse many readers and this book would benefit from a glossary of such names(2Tom,85-86). These facts show that Clancy is in need of work on his skills of balance and characterization.

The characters of any story are very important to a story. In The Hunt for Red October this is still true. The characterization style of Clancy is good at times, the characters Marko Ramius and Jack Ryan are the characters of the story that are the most important to examine. And through that examination it can be said that Clancy does show skill in characterization but he definitely needs to improve upon it.