It’s not about what the characters say… it’s about what they don’t say.
During the last stream, a subscriber requested that we do a stream about “subtext.”
Watch the full video here or scroll down for highlights.
What Is Subtext?
- Anything that is “beneath” the “text” on the page
- Anything that is not explicitly stated, but instead implied or alluded to. It’s what you get when you “read between the lines.”
- There are two types of subtext, so let’s take a look at each:
Character Level Subtext
- When a character says/does one thing but means something else.
- Example: At the beginning of Harry Potter: “I had a dream about a motorcycle,” said Harry, remembering suddenly. “It was flying.” Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: “MOTORCYCLES DON’T FLY!”
- Uncle Vernon is saying “motorcycles don’t fly,” but he doesn’t really care about that. He’s trying to deny all magic exists and stomp it out of Harry.
- Example: When Dumbledore catches Harry with the Mirror of Erised: “What do you see when you look in the mirror?” “I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.” Harry stared. “One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.”
- Dumbledore obviously did not see himself holding socks in the mirror. But through the subtext, we learn two things about him: (1) Dumbledore has secrets, and (2) whatever his desire is, it’s not something other people can give him.
- There are lots of different types of subtext on the character level:
- Euphemism: a character danced around a delicate subject
– “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” - Corporate speak: a character uses roundabout language to say something typically unpleasant
– “Tough decisions have to be made.” - Innuendo: a character makes an adult joke that children won’t understand but their parents will
– “Do you think maybe he’s compensating for something?”
- Euphemism: a character danced around a delicate subject
Story Level Subtext
- When the story seems to be about one thing but is actually something else
- Example: The story of Animal Farm by George Orwell is a bunch of animals revolting to take over a farm from their human overlords, but then slowly slipping back into having the same kind of leaders they rebelled against. The subtext is a commentary on Soviet communism.
- Example: In the movie “The Breakfast Club,” you have five students given detention: the nerd, jock, rebel, rich girl, and doesn’t-know-she’s-beautiful girl. Supposedly they all learn their commonalities and becomes friends over the course of the detention/film… but in the end, the rich girl hooks up with the rebel boy, the jock gets the beautiful girl, and all of them force the nerd to do the detention essay assignment. While the surface of the film says that we can overcome our differences/stereotypes, the subtext goes directly against this.
- There are lots of different types of subtext on the story level:
- Science fiction/fantasy: often the best stories in these genres comment on our society
– The War of the Worlds by HG Wells has a heavy imperialist
subtext - Taboo subjects: sexuality and race issues can often be expressed through subtext
– Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk has a heavy gay subtext
- Science fiction/fantasy: often the best stories in these genres comment on our society
- A story can easily have a queer subtext, fascist subtext, nihilistic subtext, nationalistic subtext, socialist subtext, feminist subtext, etc.
- It doesn’t matter if the author intended it or not, identifying and discussing it is still significant in learning about the culture/society in which it was created. A book may or may not have a “certain subtext,” but the fact that some people think it might, and what they consider to be “certain subtext” is significant
Why Use Subtext?
- On a character level, subtext makes your writing feel more realistic
- In real life, people have messy, roundabout dialogue, so use it in your stories too, otherwise your characters will sound boring/robotic
- Imagine if all the examples given above were just straightforward instead. They would be a lot less interesting, and lose a lot of their unique voice
- On a story level, subtext makes your story feel more significant
- People will read between the lines in your story whether you like it or not, so make sure the subtext is saying what you want it to say
Chat then voted that we write a scene full of subtext about this: a cop stops and frisks a random guy on the street.
Here’s what we came up with. See if you can figure out the subtext for yourself!
Randal was walking down the city sidewalk at ten minutes before midnight when the police cruiser blared its siren and flashed its blue lights at him. He quickly looked around the dimly lit area, only a few streetlights lighting up the darkness, expecting to see someone running with a purse or shoving drugs under a trenchcoat, but there was no one around except him. His stomach dropping to his knees, Randal stopped in his tracks as the cruiser parked beside him and the driver door opened.
Out stepped a middle-aged police woman in full uniform and hair so short and sharp it probably cut the barber’s scissors. She stepped right up to him, gun holster and handcuffs jangling on her hips. She even had sunglasses on, so he had no idea where she was looking.
“Do you know where you’re headed, young man?” she asked.
“Um, just going home,” Randal said. He’d never been stopped by a cop before. He just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.
“Uh huh, sure you are,” the cop said, walking over to face Randal, her boots clacking on the sidewalk. “And where were you an hour ago?”
Randal’s mind raced as he desperately tried to remember every small detail of the past hour of his life. There must’ve been some crime committed nearby, a robbery or something, and now this cop was here interrogating him about it. As long as he was just honest, then everything should be fine.
“I was at a friend’s house,” Randal said. Apparently that was not the answer the officer was looking for. She leaned in closer to Randal’s face, the same height as he was, reflecting his terrified eyes in her black sunglasses.
“Oh really?” she asked. “A friend, eh? What kind of friend?”
The cop was sniffing out accomplices. All Randal had to do was tell the truth and he’d be fine.
“Just a friend,” he said. “She lives up in Parkwood.”
The officer crossed her arms, seemingly in disapproval.
“So you think you’re smart, kid?” she said. “Smart enough to get away with something?”
“No ma’am,” Randal answered quickly. For some reason it didn’t seem like he was getting through to her. Things felt like they were spiraling out of control. “Honest, I wasn’t doing anything. I just want to go home.”
“And what are you gonna do at home, then?” she asked.
“Just some homework and then go to bed,” Randal said. It was almost tempting to say “toke up on some illegal drugs” or “incinerate the evidence,” but that would obviously not go over very well right now.
“Wrong answer,” the cop said. She grasped the cuffs on her belt and made a move to unbuckle them. A cold fear prickled all over Randal’s body. He didn’t even say anything incriminating!
“Wait, what are you doing?” he asked. “I didn’t do anything!”
“Look, kid,” the officer said, jingling the cuffs. “You can either get in the car with these on, or these off. Your choice.”
Randal didn’t know what to do. He felt like he should call a lawyer. But he didn’t even know any lawyer’s phone numbers. And they probably cost way too much money too.
“Can I call my parents?” he asked. The cop shook her head and pushed him to the rear door.
“Just get in. You can talk to them later.”
His heart beating a hole through his chest, Randal felt like his life was ending as he was shoved, bent over, into the back seat of the police cruiser. His parents were going to kill him. It didn’t matter that he didn’t do anything, they probably wouldn’t believe him. Would this go on his school record too?
The officer got in the front seat, turned on the car, and drove away, sirens silent and lights off.
“So you were just visiting a ‘friend,’ huh?” the cop asked as she drives. “Is that how you refer to them?
“It was just a friend. I don’t have any dealers or accomplices or whatever,” Randal said. “You have the wrong guy. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Oh yeah?” she asked. “Then what kind of people do you hang around?”
“Just regular people. My friends from school. We don’t even do drugs or drink or anything like that.”
“If that’s the case, then what were you doing walking home at midnight on a school night? Coming home late from a ‘study session’ for all that homework you had?”
Randal groaned. The truth hadn’t helped him much so far, but he might as well try again.
“I was visiting my girlfriend, Tonya,” he said with a heavy sigh. “Her parents are hardasses, but they were both at work tonight, so I went over to visit.”
“Visit?” the cop asked. “Is that what you call it?”
Randal rolled his eyes. It was probably not a good decision to do that, but he couldn’t help it. “Yeah, visit. You know, we teenagers can sometimes just hang out and have fun. We don’t always have to be doing the worst possible things you can imagine.”
Maybe it was Randal’s imagination, but in the rearview mirror, through the sunglasses, it looked like the cop’s face softened a bit.
“You got a plan, kid?” she asked.
“Like a getaway plan?” Randal asked with a grunt.
“No, like a life plan. You going to college? Getting a job?”
The question was so far out of what Randal expected he was slightly taken aback.
“Uh, yeah. I already got accepted into Franklin. I’ll be majoring in political science.”
The officer snorted a laugh. “So you’ll be pouring politicians from one beaker into another in your politics lab?”
“No,” Randal said. “It’s just a stepping stone toward studying law in graduate school. I want to help people who get arrested for protesting, especially those protesting abuses of authority.”
Randal knew that last part might’ve been a bit much, but he was already in a bad situation, it was hard to imagine it getting much worse. He started at the cop in the mirror, and again it was hard to tell, but she seemed to be raising her eyebrows in approval.
Looking out the window, Randal suddenly realized that they weren’t headed toward the police station. They were crossing into Woodcrest, Randal’s neighborhood. The familiar apartments passed by outside, until the cruiser slowed down and stopped right in front of the Cedar Haven complex, Randal’s home. The back door next to him popped right open automatically.
“All right, young man, you’re free to go,” the officer said.
“Wait, really?” Randal asked, somewhat in disbelief.
“Yup. Your story checks out. But one suggestion. Before you do your homework, you’d better send that girlfriend of yours a message letting her know you got home safe.”
“Uh, will do,” Randal said, still not believing his luck. He crawled out of the back and into the sweet open air. The cruiser’s door shut behind him and began to pull away.
“And one more piece of advice!” the cop yelled out the window as she was driving away. “Watch who you call a hardass.”
Did you figure it out? The ending makes it pretty obvious, but the subtext of what the cop is really talking about, and what the story is really about is there all the way through. If we wanted to keep it ambiguous we could’ve nixed or changed the ending, but I like it the way it is.
Be sure to check out the video for more comments, explanations, and great ideas from chat!
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Featured image: Pakutaso (edited by me)