The man who was not quite the full shilling.

He had a habit of rabbiting on with the air of self-righteous that only the truly intelligent have…but this man was not particularly intelligent…He had mastered various verbal skills, but so had the Parrot. Was he a Parrot? Perhaps he should have been…noone judges the Parrot…not morally!!

This man - Anathema was but a modest fool, he worked in the grocery store and packed the bags of old rich ladies happily, with an air of satisfcation, as though all along his fate had been decided and sealed between the walls of the building; his life as a packer and shelf stacker, fated by the Gods perhaps…

Anathema - though full of joy and vim, would, on occassion sink into a depression! A particularly bitter, childish depression…even in public…he never held back to mouth is burden or his feeling of persecution! In short - Anathema was unbalanced on a fundamental emotional level…He was, in private, a rather distrubed man - he had emotional problems that he did not have the intellectual capacity to deal with!

He was at the whim of his turmoil! Having neither the stength of character to overcome his problem, nor the boldness to confess it openly, to whom ever he felt he could trust.

Trust was altogether lacking - Anathema had but two close friends…and even then he had treated them badly, he had been dismissive and himself a character easily dimissed. The foolish love a fool…Having a relationship with a fool - like marrying a Parrot!

Anathema was a loner…his two close friends had drifted…they to were no doubt as distrubed as he was…but, who discusses the burden of tiny consciouness? It’s hardly tangible. Who truly discusses the inner seed of unrest in case such a seed shoudl never have existed save in the mind of the one who admitted it.

For all the smallness of his life - Anathema took himself quite serious, quite literally. It was the fate of the damned to run up against bricks walls and view that as the journey.

Anathema would learn much on his journey…fr at the moment he was only young…but what one learns is always - absence, a feeling of what a lacking, the obviousness of ones limitations, and the journey it takes to realise this.

(potential ridiculous character written on the spot)

A rather somber tale. Anathema seems to have missed a few things. You’ve left him rather one-dimensional without much hope. I would push the characterization a bit further. I would have Anathema realize the each person must begin where they find themselves and look to their potential, not to past failings. Perhaps you can also give him the understanding that he should focus on improving his weaknesses rather than exploiting his strengths. If you created a more balanced character, you could even have him begin to love himself, which would make it possible to love others and not be alone. At this point, you have a full 3 dimensional character, and the tale is now full of potential instead of being a self-fulfilling prophesy.

JT

I totally agree…Anathema needs more dimensions…

“Anathema - though full of joy and vim, would, on occassion sink into a depression!”

This line suggests one other dimension as of yet un-written. His jolly nature…but beneath it his vile, depressed self…hardly the beginning of anything really…a silly idea i took at whim…

The dimensions and layers over a NARRATIVE! That is the heart of the matter in writing. But perhaps more important - sincerity! If then one has only one dimension, is he a GOD? ha ha