Heroes and Villains

Character types we encounter in novels

 Protagonist
• A protagonist is the central character of a
story.
• They are usually the character we admire and
are the hero (the good guy) of the narrative
(story).
• A story may have more than one protagonist.
• Q: Who is the famous protagonist to the right?
• Q: What other famous protagonists do you
know or like from stories you have enjoyed?
• Q: Who is the leading protagonist of Private
Peaceful and what other characters do we
consider to be a protagonist?
Tommo and Charlie are the leading protagonists
 Antagonist
• An antagonist is a character who opposes
the goals of the protagonist and
challenges their view of themselves and
of the world.
• Antagonists are usually portrayed as the
villain (the bad guy) in a narrative.
• Q:Who is the famous antagonist to the
right?
• Q: What other famous antagonists do
you know or like from stories you have
enjoyed?
• Q: Who is the leading antagonist of
Private Peaceful and what other
characters do we consider to be a
antagonist?
Take Your Pick from Private Peaceful.
Is there anyone missing here?
 Supporting Characters
• A supporting character is a character
who isn’t the main focus of the story
but instead supports the protagonist
(or antagonist) to help them achieve
their goal, have a transformation, or
move the story forward.
• Q:Who are the famous supporting
characters to the right?
• Q: What other famous supporting
character or characters do you know
or like from stories you have
enjoyed?
• Q: Who are some of the supporting
characters in Private Peaceful?
 Molly and Mother are two of the
supporting characters in Private Peaceful.
Can you think of others?
Plot Structure
- Tension
- Suspense
- Conflict
• Plot is basically the main events

Plot
of a story.
• It refers to why things happen
and how they happen.
• The order in which events
occur in the novel and how they
are connected are also part of
the plot.
• Writers create tension, suspense
and conflict to make a story’s
plot more interesting and
engaging.
• Q: We have looked at examples
from Harry Potter, what is the
overall plot of that story.
• Q: What major events make up
the plot of Private Peaceful?
 Tension
• With tension, we see our
protagonist struggle against their
obstacles and feel their anguish
(suffering) and pain.
• Tension occurs when we care about
the character who is struggling and
we want them to succeed.
• Q: What tension do you notice in the
picture to the right?
• Q: Can you think of another
example of tension from a story you
like?
• Q: What examples of tension can
you remember from Private
Peaceful?
 Suspense
• Suspense refers to excitement,
anticipation and uncertainty about
what is going to happen next in the
story.
• Suspense is effective when it makes
the reader wait anxiously to
discover if what they thought might
happen does actually happen.
• Q: What suspense do you notice in
the picture to the right?
• Q: Can you think of another good
example of suspense from a story you
like?
• Q: What examples of suspense can
you remember from Private
Peaceful?
 Conflict
• Conflict is what stands in the way of a
character achieving their goals.
• Characters may struggle against
external conflict (such as having to deal
with enemies) or internal conflict
(where they may struggle to find
courage or direction)
• The critical point of conflict is called the
climax and when that climax plays out,
the conflict is considered to be resolved.
• Q: What conflict do you notice in the
picture to the right?
• Q: Can you think of another good
example of conflict from a story you
like?
• Q: What examples of conflict can you
remember from Private Peaceful?
 Symbolism in
story
• Symbolism is when the author uses an
object or reference to add deeper meaning
to a story.
• It provides meaning to the story beyond
what is actually being described.
• Q: Look at the symbols to the right from
Harry Potter, what does each symbol
represent?
• Q: Draw a symbol from a story you know
and explain its meaning.
• Q: What symbols can you recall from your
reading of Private Peaceful and why are
they important?
 Symbolism in
Private Peaceful
- Butterflies
- Birds
- Church towers
- Oranges and Lemons
 Butterflies
• Butterflies represent the change of
tenses in each chapter.
• Every chapter begins with Tommo
narrating the story from the present as
he awaits Charlie’s execution.
• We then go back to the past whether it is
Tommo’s childhood or recent
experience of being a soldier.
• When we see the symbol of butterflies,
we know that we are going back into
Tommo’s past.
 Birds
• In Private Peaceful, birds are a
symbol for hope and the
afterlife.
• When attending his father’s
funeral, Tommo sees a swallow (a
type of bird that you can see to
your right) and imagines it to be
his father who said that he wanted
to be reincarnated as a bird.
• When thinking of Charlie’s
execution, Tommo hopes that
there will be birds flying nearby
as it will give Charlies some relief
before his death.
 Church Towers
• Church towers in Private
Peaceful act as symbols for
Heaven.
• At Father’s funeral, Tommo’s
mother tells Big Joe that Father
is ‘up there’ when pointing at the
church tower. Big Joe later goes
missing and is found in the
church tower where he hoped he
would find Bertha.
• When at the frontline, during the
War, Tommo reflects on his
belief in God when looking at
destroyed church towers.
 Oranges and
Lemons
• In Private Peaceful, the song, Oranges
and Lemons symbolises hope,
strength and family.
• The song is most loved by Big Joe. He
sings it when he is in a good mood but
it is also used to cheer him up or calm
him down when he is upset.
• When at the battlefront, Tommo and
Charlie sing the sing often to help
them cope with the fear of death.
Do you think
having this
countdown
throughout the
book at the start of
each
chapter was a good
idea by the author?
Why?