A composite character is a character in a fictional work that is composed of two or more individuals. The individuals may be real historical or biographical figures used as models for an original piece of fiction, or they may be fictional themselves and combined in the process adaptation of fiction from one medium to another (as in the film adaptation of a novel). Frequently, writers of fiction have been known to project elements of their own alter egos into the characters they write about.

Use in journalism

While creating composite characters for a fictional work is a useful tool, doing so in journalism is considered to be like any other passing off of fiction as fact and is, in general, considered to be unethical. Nonetheless, respected writers have been known to employ this type of creative non-fiction. In 1944, The New Yorker ran a series of pieces by Joseph Mitchell on New York's Fulton Fish Market that were presented as journalism. Only when the story was published four years later as the book, Old Mr. Flood did Mitchell write, "Mr. Flood is not one man; combined in him are aspects of several old men who work or hang out in Fulton Fish Market, or who did in the past." Mitchell assigned his character, his own birthday and his own love for the Bible, Mark Twain and columnist Heywood Broun. Similarly, John Hersey is said to have created a composite character in a Life magazine story as did Alastair Reid for The New Yorker. More recently, Vivian Gornick admitted in 2003 to having used composite characters in some of her articles for the Village Voice.

It remains a somewhat open question to what degree journalistic standards of newspaper reporting apply when one is writing for a magazine. In his introduction to Mr. Flood, Mitchell wrote, "I wanted these stories to be truthful rather than factual, but they are solidly based on facts."

Notes and sources