Final answer:
Character motivation refers to the reasons behind a character's behavior in a narrative, driven by their internal desires or external influences. Understanding a character's motivation is key to grasping the character's journey and the progression of the story.
Step-by-step explanation:
Character Motivation
Character motivation refers to the reasons why a character behaves the way he or she does in a story. It's the driving force behind a character's actions and decisions and stems from their personality traits, backstory, and relationships. Understanding a character's motivation is crucial for readers or viewers to grasp the character's journey and the narrative's progression. A character may be motivated by a variety of factors, ranging from internal desires to external pressures, which influence their behavior and reactions to different situations.
Motivations can be either intrinsic, arising from within, such as personal satisfaction or moral values; or extrinsic, driven by external rewards or avoidance of negative outcomes. These motivations help to create a believable character and are essential in developing the character's arc and the overall storyline. They often relate to broader themes or challenges the character faces, like character vs. self, character vs. society, or character vs. environment.
When analyzing characters in literary works, ask: Who are the characters? What are they doing? Why and how are they doing it? This inquiry goes along with examining how characters change, their roles as the hero or villain, and how they contribute to the central conflict and resolution within the plot.