Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Jaws

Family Life

Brody's ordinary, everyday family life is an integral part of an otherwise high-adventure story. Each time Brody is shown with his family—when he's introduced waking up in bed, when he's at the beach, when he's researching shark books, at the dinner table, at the hospital, etc.—his focus is on his family. The audience can tell immediately that this is a good guy: He pals around with his wife, he plays with his kids, and he does his best to make them safe.

Brody's adorable family makes the audience love and cheer for him. Unlike with Hooper or Quint, we get to know the people who will be left bereft if Brody doesn't come back alive. So we're cheering right along with him when he blows that sucker to smithereens.

Occupation

Jaws uses the occupations of its four main characters as a pretty straightforward code for what kind of dudes they are. Brody is the Chief of Police. He's the new sheriff in town. The buck stops with him. He's "responsible for public safety around here," as he says himself. He's the protector, so the shark is his problem. He's a pretty law-and-order type of guy.

Mayor Vaughn is—yup—the mayor of Amity. He's an elected representative; he literally and figuratively represents the people of the town and their interests. Because the people of the town are most interested in how closing the beaches would affect their wallets (see, for example, their attitudes at the town meeting), that's what Mayor Vaughn is interested in.

Hooper, on the other hand, is a scientist. He's interested in discovering the facts, as well as sharing what he knows with Brody. In a broad sense he represents science itself—its power and its limits. Because of all his education, he sees himself as superior to the fishermen who still rely on old-fashioned ways of working. He can be a real snob.

And finally Quint: He's a shark fisherman. That's what he does "fer a livin" and everybody in town knows it. His house is filled with trophies from his many voyages. He represents the alpha hunter, who supposedly can go into the shark's lair and drag its carcass back to the taxidermy man. To the shark, that job makes him public enemy number one. Knowing he's a successful shark hunter tells us a lot about Quint: He's strong, relentless, and fearless. When we hear his story about the Indianapolis, we're taken aback; it doesn't fit with our tough-guy assumptions about Quint.

Personification

A movie about a "perfect engine [or] eating machine" that does nothing but "swim and eat and make little sharks" might be pretty cool. But a movie about an eating machine that swims and eats and feels something about its victims is much more interesting, don't you think? That's why Stephen Spielberg personifies the shark, giving us just enough hints to make us believe that this shark is not just dangerous; he's intentionally evil. Using camera angles that invite us into the shark's head, Spielberg almost forces us to project our own emotions onto the shark as it attacks first Chrissie and then Alex. We start to see him as a smart, emotional creature. By the time the shark starts stalking the crew of the Orca, we understand viscerally that it's acting not out of hunger, but malice. He's a serial killer out to even a score.

Clothing

The costumes in Jaws speak volumes about the characters wearing them. They symbolize who they are, what they do, and subtly (or unsubtly) direct the audience to feel a certain way about them. Chief Brody is often wearing his police uniform, sometimes complete with a shiny star on his chest like he's the sheriff in a western movie. Quint's mustache and sideburns hint at his buccaneer identity, and when he wraps a bandana around his head and loses his fake tooth, the picture's complete.

When Mayor Vaughn comes on screen wearing those sport coats of his, the color and pattern tell the audience that he's all about projecting a certain image about the town—it's old-fashioned, kitschy, and frivolous. Even minor characters' costumes start to take on meaning if you pay special attention. Alex Kintner's swimming trunks? The suits Vaughn's stooges wear? What about Chrissie Watkins' costume (i.e., nothing)?

The clothes make the man, they say. Are you a Quint, Brody, or Hooper?