Six Characters in Search of an Author Lesson Plan

The Father and the Manager debate about who is "more real" and why. In what senses are the Characters "more real," according to the Father? Do you agree? Why or why not?

When the Father asks the Manager, “Can you tell me who you are?”, he challenges the Manager’s sense of stable identity. After all, who among us can possibly answer that question? The Father argues that their story is “truer and more real” (the Manager’s words) than the Manager himself because the Manager's reality can change from one day to another, whereas the Characters are eternally exactly who they are. Characters have fixed identities, motivations, and arcs: they are what is set on the page. The...