Five For Your Hive: Depth of Character

Pixar, River of Doubt, Attitude, My Coming Was A Mistake, Character is Fate

Depth of Character

At Pixar, filmmakers often use a plot structure to forces the nature of the character to emerge. “Character,” Ed Catmull writes, “emerges most realistically and compellingly from the choices that the protagonist makes in reaction his problems.” Woody’s status as Andy’s favourite is challenged by the arrival of a shiny new space ranger, leading to a series of choices that spotlight his insecurities and flaws. Both toys endure the emotional and physical hardships of being lost but eventually reconcile as they make their way back to Andy. Marlin’s overprotectiveness is tested when Nemo is captured. His journey across the ocean reveals his fears, determination, and growth, ultimately leading to their reunion and Marlin's newfound trust in his son. “If you look at all our movies, there’s a protagonist who…goes on a journey and comes out the other end a better person…[or toy]…or rat…or fish.” How you respond under pressure or threat reveals the depth of your character, and if this is not who you want to be, change—that’s the idea for today.

He is Not Always Attractive

After his failure to run for a third term in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt set his sight, as a personal ambition, on navigating through the River of Doubt—an uncharted tributary of the Amazon. Together with famed Brazilian explorer Colonel Rondon, Roosevelt’s son Kermit, and an impressive feat of tough, jungle-hardened men, the Roosevelt–Rondon Scientific Expedition set off from Cáceres in high spirits. It was within weeks that the men met with countless unforeseen hardships: lost canoes and supplies, a man drown, a murder, surprise Indian attacks. Disease and hunger and exhaustion and fear begun to erode the men to a point where their true selves were starting to emerge. “There is a universal saying,” Kermit wrote, “that it is when men are off in the wilds that they show themselves as they really are…for without the minor comforts of life to smooth things down, and with even the elemental necessities more or less problematical, the inner man has an unusual opportunity of showing himself—and he is not always attractive.” When a man is clad in dry clothes and served regular meals, he may be the most pleasant companion, “but the same cherry individual may seem a very different person when you are both on half-rations, eaten cold, and have been drenched for three days—sleeping from utter exhaustion, cramped and wet.”

After reading a great deal on Theodore Roosevelt, I’ve come to admire him not because of the feats he had accomplished while in office, but because, despite wielding immense power and influence and privilege and wealth, he exuded a humility and grit uncommon among people of similar status. He was often regarded as an individual who never placed himself above the common man. In fact, he demanded higher standards for himself and his children, whom, despite being born to privilege, were taught never to act out of privilege.

Throughout the expedition, Kermit worked as hard as any of the camaradas. Often harder. He always in the water, risking himself to sure the men and the canoes could move through the dangerous rapids. He never fought for the best piece of meat—he was often the one who brought meat to the camp. Recalling how his dad held him and his siblings to the law of the jungle, “not even the smallest child was allowed to show a disposition to grab or select his pieces of chicken. We were taught that that was an unpardonable offense out camping, and might cause the culprit to be left behind next time.” Roosevelt had witnessed this low threshold for discomfort in some of his closest friends, and he believed that it showed a shallowness of character—a lack of depth—that he was determined never to see in his own children.

This is What We Do

In the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, Villanova was leading UNC by ten points. But with 4.7 seconds remaining, UNC hit a 3-pointer to tie the scores. Villanova’s head coach, Jay Wright, immediately called for a time-out. With his team now huddled at the side, Wright had his players start chanting the word “Attitude.” “When we break a huddle, we say ‘1,2,3, Attitude.’” The quest to succeed in life begins with this question: “Where is your mindset after something bad happens to you?” What is your response to a pressure-mounting situation? What is your posture when something goes horribly wrong? “When I looked into the eyes of our players,” Wright writes in his book Attitude, “I saw no anger or regret. No one bemoaned [the UNC player’s] ‘lucky shot,’ or that any of our guys had failed to stop him from grabbing the pass that led to that shot, or anything else.” Instead, “they were all saying, ‘Attitude. Attitude. This is what we do. Attitude. This is what we do.’” Attitude matters all the time. There is no situation that warrants it. It’s the mindset that follows you on or off the court, and it reveals the depth of your character.

With this, the players returned to the court. With just 0.6 seconds left, Kris Jenkins delivered the buzzer-beater shot, winning the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship.

“No matter the outcome, because of the way our players responded after UNC tied the game [by chanting ‘Attitude. Attitude. This is what we do.’]—I felt like they had the greatest lesson in life,” that how they responded when the championship is at stake revealed the true nature of his players. “I felt like that was an accomplishment that would follow them through their lives.”

My Coming Was A Mistake

One way to know the depths of your character is to place yourself in a situation that forces it out of you. That was what William James did. From a young age, he knew he wanted to become a naturalist. He would travel long distances to hear the great naturalists and would always read about them and their work. In 1865, he had the opportunity to work under Louis Agassiz, a famed naturalist whom James idolised. Agassiz was recruiting volunteers for an expedition to Brazil. Recognising it as an opportunity of a lifetime, James indicated his interest, and was selected. Prior to setting off, James wrote in his journal, “W.J, in this excursion, you will learn to know yourself and your resources more intimately than you do now, and will come back with your character considerably evolved and established.” Indeed, after twelve days of the expedition, his true character emerged. “My coming was a mistake,” James lamented. Persistent fleas, relentless mosquitoes, ringworm, unbearable itching, uncomfortable sleeping quarters, and seemingly pointless tasks which turned out to be opposite of what he had idealised a naturalist would do in his mind—“I am now certain that my forte is not to go on exploring expeditions,” he wrote. “I am convinced now, for good, that I am cut out for a speculative rather than an active life.” “When I get home I’m going to study philosophy all my days.”

Character is Fate

There is an old saying: Character is fate. Your attitude, your morals, your ability to admit wrong—your character—determines your destiny. “Your character is creating what happens to you in life,” Robert Greene says, “so you want to find people who have a strong character to associate with.” If this is not what you envision yourself or your children to be, make the decision to be better.