If you've been here for very long you certainly noticed the redundancy of my one fetish. Call it a character quirk, but if I were to be written into a book you can bet I'd been buying, munching, or mentioning cheese at least once a page.
When I think of cheese the first image to come to mind is that 5 lb golden block of cheddar Mom bought once a week. You know, the staple. It's the one food my family would have ceased to exist without. It represents life, vitality, thriving existence. But more than that, cheese=happiness. Besides the many tongue-tingling motivations to love cheese, I honestly think it's the key to solving all our problems.
Above and beyond it's cheery color, that block of cheddar encompasses lunches spent with my brothers, cheese souffles that my special needs brother died for, and bathroom raids to discover where Randy stashed the block this time. (Yes, he really did steal the cheese and hide it in the bathroom...regularly.) Every childhood memory I have of cheese is tied to family.
Families are the ultimate source of joy. And pain. But mostly joy.
Connecting to symbolism:
Complex characters, or real people don't simply latch onto an item or notion for no reason. There are deeper motives. So what drives you? What drives your character(s)? And what outward symbols do you use to exemplify this?
When I think of cheese the first image to come to mind is that 5 lb golden block of cheddar Mom bought once a week. You know, the staple. It's the one food my family would have ceased to exist without. It represents life, vitality, thriving existence. But more than that, cheese=happiness. Besides the many tongue-tingling motivations to love cheese, I honestly think it's the key to solving all our problems.Above and beyond it's cheery color, that block of cheddar encompasses lunches spent with my brothers, cheese souffles that my special needs brother died for, and bathroom raids to discover where Randy stashed the block this time. (Yes, he really did steal the cheese and hide it in the bathroom...regularly.) Every childhood memory I have of cheese is tied to family.
Families are the ultimate source of joy. And pain. But mostly joy.
Connecting to symbolism:
Complex characters, or real people don't simply latch onto an item or notion for no reason. There are deeper motives. So what drives you? What drives your character(s)? And what outward symbols do you use to exemplify this?
It is so nice to know a fellow cheese-lover! My fave is Brie, but I also love me some old cheddar! Yummm....
ReplyDeleteThat's a really good question! One of my MC's is driven by her need to be loved. I symbolized it by giving her a copy of The Time Traveller's Wife that is battered because she's read it so many times, even while eating or having a bath. She wants to throw it out or give it away at certain points in the novel, points where she loses faith in love, but she can't bring herself to do it because deep down she knows she will get her Happily Ever After.
First, I buy the same block of Tillamook cheddar every few weeks (thanks Costco!). And I had the same one in my fridge growing up.
ReplyDeleteSecond, your cat picture made me LOL. Thanks for that.
Third, to answer your question, this post made me think of The Closer, and how the MC has a thing for sweets. The quirk makes the character real. And when she reaches for a Ding Dong, it always makes me smile.
I love cheese but am no longer able to eat it aside from a few pieces a month because it kills my system. Sighs.
ReplyDeleteYou would go through five-pounds of cheese a week? Wow.
ReplyDeleteAlas, I cannot eat cheese (much) anymore either, tho I adore it. I sneak it in once in a while, still, and risk a reaction. Gotta have those pizzas!!
ReplyDeleteThat is a cool notion to think about further, about food or items being symbolic for family or relationships or times. Great point! Go read ENTWINED now. LOL (my copy will be used as a giveaway object on my blog in a month or 2, btw!)
Crystal--the Time Traveler's Wife... That's a good one. Just got done reading WHEN YOU REACH ME, and A Wrinkle in Time was the symbolic focus there the whole time. Brilliant use of a book.
ReplyDeleteE.R. King--The Closer... I'll have to check that one out. =)
Summer--I weep for you.
Michael--Yes. A block a week and we were lucky to have it last the entire week. You thought I was kidding about not surviving without it?
Carol--Again, I weep. (Crocodile tears, which is not entirely appropriate since I live in Florida and we don't have Crocodiles here. Perhaps they should be Alligator tears.) ENTWINED is officially on the TO READ list. =)
Couldn't concentrate on the question, just wanted to own the cat!
ReplyDeleteI love cheese, too. I'm allergic to milk but can still eat dairy products (same with my mom) so cheese is the main source of protein and the other good stuff in milk around here. :P
ReplyDeleteInteresting point about characters! I don't think I've ever had a character really attach themselves to an object . . . but something does have to drive them.
I once had a character carry around a scrapbook. It was a method of getting across some back story. He carried it with him everywhere.
ReplyDeleteBTW: Munster is my favorite cheese.
I feel the same way about Hot Tamales.
ReplyDeleteI was a cheese fiend when I was kid. No joke, I had cousins tease me about it lol. Now, I still heart it, but in a more low key way lol. <3 your blog. You have a musical coming out? I have to go through all your posts to read about it. Sounds amazing. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteWell, symbolism for me is... wait... kitty? KITTY!!! *pets screen* ...must... snuggle... kitty...
ReplyDeleteShoot. You've figured me out. Cats out of the bag! (Maybe that's why it's so happy.) I wrote this article with the devious intention of discovering how many cat-people haunt my blog. =)
ReplyDeleteI love cheese. But I'm allergic to cats. I'm giggling over the image of you as a character, with cheese in every scene. LOL!
ReplyDeleteAll I know is that we're out of cheese and this needs to be fixed. Pronto!
ReplyDeleteCurrently, my favorite cheese is LAUGHING COW spreadable cheeses ... uh ... yum.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, cheese does not love me. So, I have to eat all dairy sparingly. Bummer!!
Well, you had me at "CHEESE". Pair it with wine and I'm yours forever! :-)
ReplyDeleteWe pair our cheeses with exotic Root Beers at the Collier household. ;)
ReplyDeleteOoh, great post! I always have loved character quirks, and so this insight was very good! Thanks
ReplyDeleteand yeah, cheese=amazing.