Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Unforgiven

Actions

What the characters do (and don't do) in this film says a lot about them. Because a lot of what they do (and don't do) is kill other human beings. If that's not illuminating, we don't know what is.

While Ned initially tries to kill Davey, he decides that he doesn't have the heart to kill anymore, and he heads back to Kansas. His refusal says a lot about his character. The same goes for the Kid. While he does kill Quick Mike, the remorse he shows afterwards—he sobs and cries—and the fact that he gives his gun to Will says a lot about him.

Both Ned and the Kid, then, are guilty of murder, but they act like they're sorry. That's a big deal.

This is not the case with either Will Munny or Little Bill. Neither one of these guys shows any remorse. Sure, Will doesn't want his kids to know about his past, but this is different than crying and sobbing and asking for forgiveness. In addition, they both shows themselves more than willing to hurt, and even kill, innocent people. Will kills Skinny and several sheriff's deputies in the film, and Bill kills Ned and severely beats both Will and English Bob.

Speech and Dialogue

The majority of the characters in Unforgiven aren't men of letters. Little Bill can't read very well (he reads "duke" as "duck") and both he and Will Munny speak like cowboys: a lot of contractions ("ain't" "gonna") and the dropping of final "-ing" sounds (happenin'/shootin') and using adjectives instead of adverbs ("real good" instead of "really good").

In contrast to guys like Little Bill and Munny, there's English Bob, who utilizes a very polite British speech (long sentences, lots of subordinate clauses), and W.W. Beauchamp, a writer of pulp fiction who likes to use some pretty flowery lingo. While Bob tries to maintain his snooty British airs, once he's beaten up and kicked out of town, he reverts back to Cockney. It's clear that his accent—like many of the things about the West—is entirely fabricated.