Constructing Binary Identities: A Qualitative Analysis of Characters Complexity in The School for Good and Evil

Abstract

Language is an important tool to negotiate identity in any given context. One important area is of fantasy genre. This study examines the linguistic mannerisms of characters in The School for Good and Evil (2022) and how they facilitate the makeup, the reframe, and the undoing of good and evil identities. The research uses a qualitative discourse analysis approach and a triangulated theoretical framework to examine lexical choices, sentence structures, and discourse strategies used by characters, which in turn provide insights into how language reflects their changing moral identities. Linguistic markers of good are positive, compassionate and heroic, while linguistics markers for evil are assertive, cunning, and self-serving, the study finds. As the characters transition from the right to wrong side of the moral spectrum, their language undergoes a change to reaffirm that they indeed shifted along with their morals. Thus, with this analysis, this paper contributes to a field of sociolinguistics in which one can illustrate how fantasy narratives not only reinforce an individual's identity throughout the narrative, but also coincide with a parallel process in identity formation in the real world. The results set a new line of inquiry into the link between language and morality as well as language and fictional identity construction.