I think Archer is intentionally two-dimensional. MacDonald
wanted the reader to view the surrounding characters through
Archer, Archer as passageway into the novel. He wanted the
reader to be able to make other judgements about the
characters, while Archer acted as the conscience of the
novel. Therefore, Archer can't really have a past or any real
characterizations (especially in the later novels, save
perhaps The Blue Hammer), that would impede on the impact of
the surrounding characters in the novel.
-Dave
Richard Moore <
moorich2@aol.com> wrote: For the sake of argument,
granting every point in the above paragraph about MacDonald's
better antagonists, protagonists, etc., I am intrigued that
your praise does not include the character Lew Archer. For
myself, I've always found Lew Archer a bit, well, two-
dimensional, certainly hazy in comparison to the various
fully-drawn protagonists and antagonists.
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