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The Imager Portfolio
L.E. Modesitt, Jr
Imager
Character and Values
An author creates a narrative to:
- tell a story;
- create characters with certain dimensions; with certain strengths and weaknesses, skills and inclinations;
- inserts them into situations involving family, work, or recreation in a society or culture
- creates the social boundaries of that society or culture
- introduces events which cause reactions by characters and thus
- drives the plot, the story-line, the narrative forward and
- illustrates the character's strengths and flaws
- and perhaps, highlights social norms and controls and causes reflection upon these.
A reader may evaluate this in the light of his or her own life, their personal character, their morality, their society and culture. In this wise, a work of fiction may evoke self-reflection and awareness of issues hitherto unconsidered.
In these considerations, we are using the five human values of Truth, Right Conduct, Love, Peace and Non-violence together with definitions of good character and integrity to draw out reflections on the narrative and the actions of the characters.
Rhennthyl is a journeyman portraiturist who lives in the world of art and painting, masters and apprentices, portraiture and customers, with all the gear and tackle of his trade. He comes from a family, he lives in the city called L'Excelsis, the capital of Solidar with its mores and customs, and is indentured to a Master Portraiturist for ten years before he may strike out on his own and garner his own customers and his own income, reputation and wealth.
At the end of the first fifteen chapters we surmise Rhennthyl is 23 years old. What does he learn, what does he do, how does he live, what is he living for, does he have any awareness of himself and where his life may be going?
Rhennthyl is not in early childhood, nor is he learning in isolation. By what criteria shall we assess the character of the people in Rhennthyl's life? How do we assess Rhennthyl's character? What do these human values of Truth, Right Conduct, Love, Peace and Non-violence have to do with character and the activities of the people in this narrative?
Truth is self knowledge and self awareness; it corresponds in action to learning to know. When we are informed, we speak the truth. In the lifelong learning continuum, this is shown as the knowledge below.
Right Conduct is self confidence in action; it corresponds to learning to do. In the lifelong learning continuum, when we act with right conduct, we act in a cultured fashion and express skill.
Peace is self satisfaction. This corresponds to learning to live together. When we act with peace, we are emancipated from the bonds of ego and express balance.
Love is self sacrifice; love makes space for others and always gives of its own self; thus, it is sacrificial and selfless in nature. When we act with love we are emancipated from jealousy and greed, and live our lives with insight.
Non-violence is self realisation; we have understood the purpose of our life and have learned to be our own self. With this realisation and insight into our own selves, we become self-actualised and express our own identity.
Integrity and Character
The elements in the lifelong learning processes are knowledge, skill, balance, insight and identity. With these criteria we examine the persona of the main players in Rhennthyl's life.
There are many presumptions about human character and how this is manifest. Most of these presumptions look at the actions of a person and deduce character traits. In these pages, Character is what you think, say and do. Integrity is a unity between thoughts, words and actions. Good character expresses this as a unity between thoughts, what is spoken and what is done. Poor character does not express integrity; there is an absence of congruence and harmony between thoughts, words and deeds. Unreliable and untrustworthy character in a human thinks one thing, says another and does yet something else.
We use the lifelong learning continuum of Knowledge, Skill, Balance, Insight, Identity to delineate some aspects of the character of the players in Rhennthyl's life up to Chapter 15.
| Character | Knowledge | Skill | Balance | Insight | Identity |
| Chenkyr (Rhenn's Father) |
Has strong foundation in cloth, factoring, tariffs and trade | Alert to trade prices, impact of conflict and war; sharp trader who maintains his margins | tends to be traditional; single pointed views | Somewhat fatalistic and hard nosed; does not shy from resolving difficult issues | Father; Factor; Tradesman; Citizen; honest; following the rules |
| Master Caliostrus | traditional artist skill base, master of portraiture | trade skills, customer skills, self protective; make money; protect your assets; keep to the rules | Somewhat self-protective, self-focussed and unable to be detached and have perspective | does not have good insight into people and their needs; maintains status quo | A good artist who keeps customers satisfied; self-reliant, Master and Lord of his home; proud member of his guild |
| Ostrius (son of Caliostrus) |
basics of art and portraiture | Lazy; considers basic tasks beneath him; People are means to the end; ride on your father's accomplishments | Lacking; emulates his father, a bully; nasty and brutish | Lives with scarcity consciousness and is very selfish; He is only as good as his skills, golds and reputation which diminish with age | heir to the family business; Junior master with a spoon in his mouth; has it all together |
| Soleri | looms, fabrics, embroidery, cloth, craftsmanship; entrenched views about society and culture. Take your place in the family | can set patterns for looms; participates in management of the family business | Part Pharsi; embedded in family traditions; self-aware and balanced | able to look beyond the present circumstances; uses Pharsi skills as an aide | Loyalty; controlled integrity in business and family; |
| Master Jacquerl | Art, Portraiture; good times and hard times; wisdom through suffering and insight | communication, directness, reading the signs of the times | considers his needs, needs of those dependent upon him, and his position in society | acknowledges guild boundaries, part of cultural boundaries; has insight into young men, much better than Caliostrus | Master Portraiturist; Breadwinner and keep of family and apprentices; Master of the status quo |
| Master Estafen | Art, Portraiture, politics, management; Rules set boundaries which become power to be wielded | paints to flatter his customers | Conforms; will survive within parameters and protect his guild, city and land | self serving blather; selfish; inward looking; | Master Portraiturist; active citizenship through upkeep of social codes, written and unwritten |
Rhennthyl is surrounded by people who are very much products of their culture and society; somewhat selfish types who seek to maintain the status quo and the social mores of Solidar, and those of the guild. Some are bullying and brutish, others are concerned and careful. There are few who have learned through insight and suffering, but one who has, bluntly shares his truth with Rhennthyl. We move on now to an examination of Rhennthyl's Character.