: Re: Is Jaime Lannister a "telling not showing" example? Warning: spoilers of A Song of Ice and Fire. I was reading through this site that you should avoid telling what a character is by using

There is an element the other answers do not address. Jaime has a reputation as being a great swordsman. We are shown, not told, that he has this reputation. A character's reputation is as much an attribute of his, as any skill or trait he might possess.

Now, a reputation can be true, or false, or somewhere in between. In fact, G.R.R. Martin addresses this, with various characters, Jaime included. For example, Jaime's "nickname" 'The Kingslayer' is taken as a negative thing, when in truth, he should have done it sooner. But in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we tend to believe reputation. It's a form of crowdsourcing. Like wikipedia: if wikipedia says, for example, that David Garrett is a renowned violinist who is performing with the best orchestras around the world, I don't need to have heard him to "know" he's good. If a lot of people say the same thing, they're probably not all wrong, right?

An interesting thing happens with Jaime: he has the reputation of being a great swordsman, but having lost his sword hand, this reputation is no longer true. Only, it's still a new thing, his reputation hasn't yet adjusted to "having been" a great swordsman. Quite a bit of story tension is derived from this.

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: Re: Is Jaime Lannister a "telling not showing" example? Warning: spoilers of A Song of Ice and Fire. I was reading through this site that you should avoid telling what a character is by using

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: Dead children in pre-modern setting The reality of pre-Industrial Revolution times was that about half the children born died before age 5. It would be a mistake to think that parents cared

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