'How stupid can you get'" (German 5). It's this honest rendering of Cameron's fatal flaw that gives him his shape or his "roundness" as a character. Readers know individuals who are so myopic or self-absorbed that they cannot imagine what it's like to be someone else or they cannot see the error in their own hypocritical behavior. At the end of the day, that's what Cameron is, a hypocrite. And therein lies the message to the reader; the moral of the story, the important stuff, self-reflection and self-criticism are integral to personal growth.

In Noux's story, "Cruelty the Humans Heart," the "round" character isn't the protagonist, (in this case the narrator) rather the "round" character is the delinquent the protagonist arrests and interacts with throughout the story; the problem child, Cristoph Priest.

In a brief but powerful clause, the narrator prefaces an early encounter with Priest: "We met ugly..." he says (Noux 1). In three small words Noux's narrator sets the tone for the entire piece. The reader knows that things are about to get ugly and it's also at this point that the reader can begin to grasp the scope and breadth of the narrator's antipathy for Priest, in addition to the turpitude of Priest himself. Soon after this introduction the reader is exposed to the violent ways of this young malcontent, "Cris looked at me, turned to his right and shot a big yellow dog who was just standing there, watching us" (Noux 1), "Cris, leaning against my front bumper, was strangling the birds still flopping on his belt. He snapped their necks before I could get to him" (Noux 3), and "Then he spit in my face" (Noux 3).

All three of these suggest an individual who is deeply disturbed, perhaps even anti-social. However, by just singling out the actions of Priest the reader is given a rather "flat" character, a character with no surprises. After all, the reader expects the anti-social character to torture innocent animals, the reader expects...

By naming the antagonist of the story "Priest" Noux's making a concerted effort to add a layer of sophistication, a layer of complexity, some depth and roundness, to the way a reader reads and interprets his actions. Therefore, Priest's actions are more than just story drama; in fact, one could argue that they become a metaphor for the misdeeds of real Priests, that they're an indictment on, and criticism of, the influence of real clergymen.
In looking at these three short stories, a reader can see "roundness" in action, writers creating compelling characters that have an existential import beyond the narratives themselves. The characters in these three short stories matter because what they are fighting for, what they represent, is not unique to them or the fictional worlds, rather it is something universally germane to the human condition.

Work's Cited

De Noux, O'Neil. "Cruelty the Humans Heart." Copyright 2011: 16 pages

http://pdf-ebooks.net/sample/54115/cruelty-the-human-heart.

German, Norman. "Controlled Burn." Fish Tales. Copyright 2006: 3 pages

http://www.asavagewisdom.com/author.html

German, Norman. "Sportfishing with Cameron." Salt Water Sportsman.

http://www.asavagewisdom.com/author.html

Wood, James. How Fiction Works. New York. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2008: 288 pages