In the kingdom of idiots, the halfwit is king

December 1, 2008 8:16 AM

Is there a name for the literary device where you make your protagonist stand out by surrounding him/her with dunderheads?

I've recently been reading (and enjoying) Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels. After the first few, though, I put my finger on what it is about the books that bothers me a bit: while Reacher is portrayed as a brilliant investigator/problem-solver, it soon becomes obvious that Reacher actually lives in a parallel dimension where everyone other than Reacher is dumb as a stump.

Is this an oft-used literary device, and if so is there a name for it? And are there other examples of authors making their protagonists better than average by setting the bar of humanity especially low?

posted by Shepherd to media & arts (19 comments total)

Pandering? At least it is prominent in the Mtv show The Hills, where the girls are all beautiful and career minded, and the guys are all mumbling, scruffy, directionless idiots.
posted by plexi at 8:23 AM on December 1, 2008

Not sure if this will help, but A Confederacy of Dunces basically displays the totally opposite of that effect. Wherein the main character is such a self absorbed and misinformed dolt that everyone around him (even lesser idiots) seem like geniuses by comparison.
posted by DrDreidel at 8:26 AM on December 1, 2008

And are there other examples of authors making their protagonists better than average by setting the bar of humanity especially low?

It's not a book, but this was literally the main plot conceit in the film Idiocracy.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:36 AM on December 1, 2008

Not sure if this will help, but A Confederacy of Dunces basically displays the totally opposite of that effect. Wherein the main character is such a self absorbed and misinformed dolt that everyone around him (even lesser idiots) seem like geniuses by comparison.

While Ignatius could be described as dumb, I don't think many of the other characters are presented in a positive light. If anything, Ignatius' hypochondriac behavior is used to emphasize failings in other characters.

As to it being a common device, substitute the ability to hit a barn with a blaster for problem-solving and you get the Imperial Stormtrooper and countless other inept evil minions.
posted by ghost of a past number at 8:51 AM on December 1, 2008

"Mom and Dad Save the World" also had that as its main plot device - a world where Jon Lovitz is a brilliant mastermind. It also has the best quote ever:

"What we lack in intelligence, we make up for... with good intentions!"
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:53 AM on December 1, 2008

A "foil" is a character used as a literary device to highlight or emphasize an aspect of the protagonist. Foils are frequently sidekicks or perspective characters. Basically, the author uses the interaction and contrast between two characters to draw attention to traits that might otherwise be difficult to demonstrate. Foils are also frequently used as a kind of anchor point so that readers have someone with whom to identify: Batman is too different from your average 10-year old boy for an immediate self-identification, but the original Robin fits the bill perfectly.

But if the author is seemingly unable to make his characters stand out by any device other than dumbing down those around him, I believe the technical term for that is "bad writing."
posted by valkyryn at 8:54 AM on December 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

I seem to remember something like this on Super Hero Nation. I'd go try to find it, but I have to get to class.
posted by theichibun at 8:57 AM on December 1, 2008

A Bollywood hero?
posted by Gyan at 9:01 AM on December 1, 2008

Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
posted by JimN2TAW at 9:02 AM on December 1, 2008

Dexter.
posted by thebigpoop at 9:19 AM on December 1, 2008

[comment removed - answers wtihout editorials please, thank you]
posted by jessamyn at 9:29 AM on December 1, 2008

Typically I hear stories like this described as "Sane man in an insane world."

Yes you are talking about intelligence, not sanity, but it's the same basic idea of a hero who is the only competent person in the story. This is used to set up conflict, because for whatever reason, the circumstances dictate that everyone is against the hero.

However, re-reading the question, what you describe sounds a bit less like that and more like just plain bad writing. If the world the author creates is not believable to you because everyone but one person is dumb, that's just bad writing.

(In Hollywood films, having a likable hero is very important. However, it's often funny or cool to have the hero do bad things, so screenwriters will go through all kinds of contortions to create situations where "bad" actions are justified for a "good" hero. The first example that springs to mind is 'gone in 60 Seconds," where the hero is "forced" to steal a ton of cars through some contrivance. The studio probably worried that making the hero a straight-up car thief who just liked stealing cars wouldn't play well with audiences.)
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:37 AM on December 1, 2008

Flat Characters are stereotypical, two-dimensional characters who undergo no change or growth. They can be used to contrast a protagonist's dynamism.
posted by terranova at 9:45 AM on December 1, 2008

Virtually every use you'll see of the Socratic Method in fictional dialog ends up as an example of this.


Student: Master, I know that I have no ass because I cannot see it.

Master: Does the wind not exist because you can not see it?

Student: But asses only produce wind after Mexican food. And I can not deduce the existence of my ass from sound and smell alone.

Master: Do you not have other senses?

Student: Well I'm certainly not going to taste it.

Master: Try again.

Student: (has moment of discovery) Aha! Now I see where I have been mistaken. Truly you are an enlightened holy one, probably the direct descendant of some local deity. And from this day forward, thanks only to your magnificent wisdom, I will be able to find my ass with both hands.
posted by tkolar at 9:46 AM on December 1, 2008 [6 favorites]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Ayn Rand yet.
posted by shamble at 9:55 AM on December 1, 2008 [2 favorites]

Sounds like a variant on the Idiot Plot (A plot which functions only because all the characters involved are idiots), but I'm not sure theres a specific name for it. There ought to be.
posted by Artw at 12:57 PM on December 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

I had always referred to this as "stacking the deck."
posted by Sticherbeast at 2:12 PM on December 1, 2008

I realize this is hardly a literary term, but TV Tropes' God Mode Sue article mentions your buddy Jack by name and has dozens of other examples to boot.
posted by teremala at 3:43 PM on December 1, 2008

Dang! I was hoping there might be an established term for this. I agree to an extent with some of the examples given -- Newhart and Office Space sprang to mind, but those are comedies, which aren't as beholden to realism. Thanks for the Turkey City link in particular, Artw -- a lot of good stuff in there.

The good news, I guess, is I get to coin this thing. I shall call it Reachering.
posted by Shepherd at 9:56 AM on December 2, 2008