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In a Dramatica grand argument story, it is the impact character
that has the most influence on the main character. The impact
character, wittingly or unwittingly, will compel the main
character to remain steadfast to their particular paradigm
or change to the impact character's point of view.
Typically, the impact
character is one person or single entity. In the case of Neil
Jordan's The
Butcher Boy, and Stanley Kubrick's A
Clockwork Orange, the impact character is the society
in which the main character functions.
The
Butcher Boy, an adaptation of Pat McCabe's novel,
is a brutal account of one boy's moral destruction set against
the "duck and cover" environment of fear that emanated
from communism, specifically the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Precocious and full of Celtic charm, "The Incredible
Francis Brady" (main character) is an ebullient twelve-year-old
with a wide Irish eyes smile and an unfortunate set of parents
— a beautiful and suicidal mother, and a father who "
. . . was the best drinker in the town." Francie sets
up the story with a voice-over narration: "When I was
a young lad . . . I lived in a small town where they were
all after me on account of what I'd done [to] Mrs. Nugent."
What follows is a cinematic
treatise on the making of a psychopath:
Francis steals apples
from Mrs. Nugent's tree and extorts Green Lantern comics from
her bespectacled son, Philip. Mrs. Nugent tells his mother
exactly what she thinks of the Bradys: "Pigs!" igniting
a feud (story driver-action) between the boy and neighbor
that erupts in unholy carnage. During the course of the story,
Francie's pranks evolve from the malicious to the unconscionably
vicious. He is sent to a reform school where he easily manipulates
his release, a mental institution from where he escapes, and
he even fools his parish priest who exhorts the townspeople
to " . . . pray for the redemption of Francis Brady .
. ." Each personal tragedy, most notably the death of
his mother and perceived betrayal of best friend Joe Purcell,
exacerbates the sins he commits against Mrs. Nugent and the
small community. Finally, the town's authorities " .
. . put Francie Brady in the 'garage' for bad bastards."
(impact character resolve-change)
Like anti-hero Alex
in A Clockwork
Orange, none of Francie's actions are excusable,
but there is a margin for understanding. In one of the film's
most poignant moments, Francie lists his losses on the steamed
up kitchen window with his finger — unaware his abandoned
soul is the most tragic loss of all.
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