CHARACTER AND CHARACTERIZATION in Dazzling Mirage by Olayinka Abimbola

It is usually debatable whether a general statement as this can be made in respect of characterization, it is not wrong to assert that without characters a story may not exist. This is because, we read story to know about the characters, their personality, and circumstances surrounding their life. Characterization is thus an important element in story-telling. The general conception of characterization is that it is the process by which the writer introduces and develops his characters. The method of characterization can be either by showing or telling. Its the practice that playwright makes use of the former while novelist the latter. A character does not have to be a human being but can be anything developed into certain identifiable traits evaluable, analyzable and interpretable to mean the implied themes. A character can change within the course of a narrative or remain the same, because such change in a character serves the purpose of telling the story as a whole. This is the reason why mostly protagonists are more apt to change. Some characters are only there to help bring out the personality traits in the major characters and therefore may not themselves change in the course of the story.
As a starting point, characters in Dazzling Mirage fall into two categories; a group that upholds the stigmatic traditions against Sickler, and other that sees them no different than all people in the Nigerian community, the territorial setting of the novel. The intent of the story therefore seems to probe into this stigma culture, questioning its rationality at one hand and demolishing its plinth at another. Given the foregoing, the characters would best be looked up through the aforementioned classification, though no outright demarcation will be made in the course of the discourse.

Funmiwo
Funmiwo is the central character in the story. The story revolves around her. Messrs. Adebayos have adopted and brought her up without knowing she is anemic though they have been medical practitioners for quite long. In the story, the author tries to interprets a Sickler, which, put in a definitive term, signifies a life full of suffering and pain because anemics live at the mercy of exuberant Medicare. Saddled by painful experiences, Funmiwo under the false impression of right of a child against wrongful birth accuses her putative parents of making a selfish and unreasonable decision of bringing her into this life which is hijacked by endless pain and crises. Though put off by the unravelling of her adoption story, this raises a crucial question that threatens a union of medically incompatible couple. Another step takes off in the story as she chooses to pursue her life on her own by taking up a job at Advert Merchant Nigeria Ltd in Ibadan. Her parents are always worried that she cannot live alone because of her medical status, but her resolution is that an individual should not be dependent all his life on others no matter how close. This is a roundabout of putting up the point that anemics are hardly made at ease with themselves, because whenever they want to partake in the activities normal persons are allowed to do, they will be reminded of their medical defect. She engages in a relationship with Sonya at Ibadan which breaks up due to stigma meted out on her by his mother. This means that Sicklers do not have right to make a life decision about whom they want to spend their lives with because even after that their resolve can be upset by the persons family. Sonya turns to be a wrong choice after all, since he cannot stand up to unreasonable quarantining of his anemic girlfriend even after several downstage advocacy for the same cause. She later marries Dotun, the Managing Director of the company she works at. Throughout her pregnancy crisis, he stands by her, strengthens her, cheers her and comforts her. He proves to be the type of person Sicklers normally need in the society. The story, like a talking machine, seems to shout out to the audience that all anemics need is love, consolation, sincerity, and support, not pity, stigma and unreasonable discrimination in the society where they were born and bred. The symbol of dazzling mirage which signifies uncertainty, instability and ephemerality turns out to be another arrow shot by the author aiming to destruct the societal misconception of anemics. The irony lies in the fact that Funmiwo who was seen as only existing for a short time turns to make a happy home with her husband, Dotun. The result of the union is their daughter, Demilade. This means that its not enough that the society pities but love matters more.

Dotun Adetoyin
Dotun is one of the major characters in the story. His approach and conception of the world is what differentiated him from other characters; not only that he is intelligent and knows what he wants in life but that he also goes for it. Although he is a cynosure for ladies attention, he pursues quality in the woman he wants to live with as a lifetime partner. This brought him in close quarters with Funmiwo and eventually the relationship culminated in their marriage. Dotun unlike other characters in the society understands the complexity associated with sickle cell anemia and this is the reason why he proposes for Funmiwo despite her medical problem. This put him at sharp contrast with Sonya who though fully enlightened about Sickle Cell disease still succumbs to the baseless belief of his mother against anemic. She however still shows pity to them but what they need is more than that as the novel endeavours to establish. As human beings, they need equal treatment and fair association which the traditional society is not ready to offer them. Back when he was undergaraduate, Dotun proposed to Ojiro who rejected his proposal but those qualities that attracted him to her still remain to pull him towards Funmiwo in the course of the story. This implies that as regards marital union, quality is all that matters and Sicklers are capable of possessing those qualities too. So, discriminating against them based on their medical status is injustice and unfairness. The inference can be made farther that the societys view of them as disables and only surviving for a small fracture of time is wrong and baseless. Funmiwo stands to answer this. Albeit she is a Sickler, she still survives, she used to top her class during her school years, she is very good at her work and, also, she makes a perfect home after giving birth to a beautiful daughter. Dotun can therefore be said to represent the small portion of enlightened individuals in the society and helps in carrying home the foregoing theme in the novel.

Mr. and Mrs Adebayo
Alice and Fumi Adebayo are medical practitioners and, in order to fulfil their love, they have got married in spite of their medical incompatibility. Being unable to give birth, they adopt Funmiwo and brought her up as their own daughter. they show her the best love a daughter can ever get from her parents and educate her to a degree level. However, they have to reveal to their ward one day the story surrounding her life after she insists on knowing. Nothing however changes as a result of that, they continue to show her love and allow her her full freedom as she comes of age and makes the decision to take a job at Ibadan which means living by herself. They play a major role in the story by loving, caring and protecting their anemic daughter. This might be due to their experience as medical practitioners. They also help to make sure that she gets the best medical care available. This shows that, though no parmanent cure has yet been discovered, it helps to put one on proper medical assistance in order to reduce the number of crises and pain suffered by the patient.