Por Julia Abrahao

Alec looked at it. Suddenly he was filled with hate – for the scarf, for Magnus, and most of all for himself. “Don’t tell me,” he said. “The scarf’s a hundred years old, and it was given to you by Queen Victoria right before she died, for special services to the Crown or something.”

Magnus sat up. “What’s gotten into you?”

Alec stared at him. “Am I the newest thing in this apartment?”

“I think that honor goes to Chairman Meow. He’s only two.”

“I said newest, not youngest,” Alec snapped.

City of Lost Souls, 2012

Cassandra Clare is a Young Adult Literature writer famous for her multi series world “The Shadowhunters Chronicles”. Now, when looking at the success of a story, we must evaluate what it is that leaves a lasting impact on the readers. Of course, the product in its entirety is the main goal. However, if we deconstruct the building blocks of which a text is created, it becomes easier to identify what aspects are at the core of the story’s popularity. Having been an avid reader of Clare since her humble beginning, I’ve witnessed her writing technique become more and more refined throughout the years to the point where I believe she is one of the best writers of this generation. Clare has incredible world building capabilities and immaculate pacing. Yet, the star she shines through, that pulled her through her less polished phase, armature phase, are her characters. Her plot is compelling, her writing is pleasant and her world construction is stellar, but her characters are masterpieces. Now, I’m not talking necessarily about the characters in the sense of their presence in the books, remember, we’re detaching the pieces from the end result. Look at the characters as a personality, a set of traits, a person as you will. Clare spends a lot of time personifying the characters, creating very specific personas for the readers to relate to. Her characters feel realistic and human, a feeling created by the characters personalities and, above all, their relationships, both platonic and romantic.

Clare shows us not only the good in her characters, but also the bad, not through sets of actions, but through emotional and logical perspectives. 

To exemplify that, I’ll be using Alec Lightwood, the most human character from all of Clare’s work, from my perspective at least.

The thing about Alec is that he is not a likable character at first, neither does he necessarily go through a big ethical change. During the first few books, Alec is a nasty side character that worked as a “mean girl” to contrast with the main female character. As the story evolves, and we see more of him, we slowly learn his motives and expectations. The most important thing about Alec is that his mistakes are born from human and reasonable feelings. Clare doesn’t excuse Alec’s behavior, but rather explains it. Most of Alec’s actions can be narrowed down to jealousy, doubt and low self esteem. Those are emotions that everyone can relate to and that lots of times leads us to making mistakes. The switch in the reader’s view of Alec doesn’t happen because he has a change of heart, it happens because he becomes understandable. We learn that he recognizes he doesn’t always act the way he should but we can’t judge him for things we’ve all been through. The fundamental values of Alec’s character doesn’t change, he’s sassy and teasing with the people he likes, he’s stoic and professional with people he respects, and he’s direct and hostile with people he doesn’t like. He makes sense, he is human. 

Now, it’s impossible to talk about Alec without mentioning his coming out story. However, when it comes to the topic of this text, I do not believe it makes significant changes. While being queer is definitely a part of Alec, it is not his personality or the root of his character. It does however make him more relatable to those in the LGBT+ community. Those who went through the process of self acceptance in a non inclusive environment. 

The main point to be taken from Clare’s techniques in character construction is that when you give your characters realistic flaws with logical behavior, they will produce more relatable relationships and therefore, be more appealing to the readers. Clare’s character don’t feel fake, they don’t feel like made up people both in the sense of them being overly dramatized or underdeveloped. Even cruel characters make sense and seem believable. In stories all about magic and fantasy, realism is still at play within its realms, the characters being the main factor. 

I believe characters are responsible for 40% of a story’s appeal, to me anyways. You know you have a good character when readers say the oh so common statement “I would read this book just for this character, even if it’s bad”. I would read any book with most of Clare’s characters, and that’s why they are just perfect. 

I’ll leave you with my favorite Alec quote and till next time.

“Iz,” Alec said tiredly. “It’s not like it’s one big bad thing. It’s a lot of little invisible things. When Magnus and I were traveling, and I’d call from the road, Dad never asked how he was. When I get up to talk in Clave meetings, no one listens, and I don’t know if that’s because I’m young or if it’s because of something else. I saw Mom talking to a friend about her grandchildren and the second I walked into the room they shut up. Irina Cartwright told me it was a pity no one would ever inherit my blue eyes now.” He shrugged and looked toward Magnus, who took a hand off the wheel for a moment to place it on Alec’s. “It’s not like a stab wound you can protect me from. It’s a million little paper cuts every day.”

City of Lost Souls, 2012