Oliver Twist (pictured above), Cat from Joan D. Vinge's Psion, Harry Potter, Jane Eyre, Kal-El aka Clark Kent, Heidi, Dorothy Gale from Wizard of Oz, Dick Grayson from Batman, Martha Leigh from Victoria Holt's Mistress of Mellyn, Hannibal Lector, and many more. All are orphans, and in each case we probably couldn't imagine their story being the same if they weren't.
What is an orphan? Usually in English it means a child who has lost both parents, sometimes extended to an adult who lost both parents early in life. The Old Testament word for orphan means 'fatherless' (Strong's number 3490 for the Bible-literate out there who use that resource) and it's related to the word for 'lonely'. That is the origin of the common 'widows and orphans' phrase in the English language--- 'orphans' including the fatherless children of the widows as well as children who have lost both parents.
Feminists may hate this fact, but in traditional societies a child without a living father was without a male protector and had a precarious life. Stepfathers and male relatives often had little interest in seeing the fatherless child grow up and possibly inherit from his father what otherwise might be in the hands of the stepfather or male relative. And since fathers are the traditional providers for the family, widows and orphans were often poor even if the widowed mother had a trade as women often had even in Bible times (Proverbs 31:24). And even the financially successful widow had to sacrifice time and attention she would have given the child.
There is another word, 'half-orphan', which can refer to a child who has lost a parent of either sex. It's a literal translation of the German 'Halbwaise', 'Waise' meaning orphan. While 'half-orphan' is not so common in English I feel it ought to be used more for clarification purposes since 'orphan' so commonly means a child who has lost both parents.
Why are orphans so prominent in fiction? Because the orphaned child or young person is more vulnerable, and vulnerable is good for the writer. It is your bounden duty as a writer to get your character in a lot of trouble they can't easily get out of, and that's easier to do with an orphan.
Imagine Jane Eyre at the dreadful charity school Lowood. If she'd had living parents, no matter how poor, they would have pulled her daughter out of that school immediately, either teaching her at home or finding a more humane charity school.
Imagine Harry Potter growing up with two living wizarding parents. He would not have had to live with the Dursleys, and he would have two adult-wizard protectors against any danger. He would not have been the person he became in those circumstances.
Gothic fiction of the modern type, inspired by Jane Eyre and Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, nearly always has an orphaned heroine, of gentle birth but usually poor, trying to make her way in the world. Often she's a governess or other not-quite-servant in a creepy castle/mansion and the orphan status means she can't just leave her position when things get weird.
Another factor with orphans is that an orphan represents a rip in the fabric of 'the way things ought to be'. In a tribal culture, the person without parents, extended family or a clan to turn to is so bereft that they might as well be dead, and without a religious command to be kind to the widow and the orphan their lives are precarious indeed.
Even in our own family-disdaining culture the traditional situation of the biological parents being married and raising their children together to adulthood and beyond is a building block of our society. Other family situations succeed best the nearer they can get to that ideal example. The orphaned or half-orphan child may have good adoptive or stepparents, but usually feels an intense desire to know more about the biological family that produced him.
In fiction, the orphan character often mends the ripped fabric of his life usually by forming or becoming part of a family. Jane Eyre finds a husband in the end--- once that husband's mad wife dies. Harry Potter first becomes a virtual member of the Weasley family through his friendship with Ron and the maternal instincts of Ron's mother, and as an adult makes it official by marrying Ginny.
Series characters, on the other hand, often stay alone to keep the tension up, as in Cat from Psion. As a lonely outcast his story is compelling, giving him a wife, inlaws and kids, would have changed the storyline too greatly.
In some fiction, a character with living parents is set up to be orphan-like, at least temporarily. In a Gothic romance I read recently (Seven for a Secret by Victoria Holt), the heroine has a living mother in nursing care after a stroke, and a living father she's never met who lives off on an island somewhere, therefore she's the same as an orphan for much of the book.
In Mercedes Lackey's Magic's Pawn, young Vanyel has a harsh father who rejects him because he fears Vanyel shows signs of being gay (though at this point teen Vanyel doesn't even know homosexuals exist, much less that he's one of them.) Vanyel's mom is foolish and frivolous and won't stand up to her husband. Vanyel is sent away to his harsh old aunt whose first words to Vanyel are essentially, 'I didn't want you here, stay out of trouble and out of my way.' So during the crucial early stages he has no one to turn to, gets in a romantic relationship with a boy with family troubles, and has no one to confide in when his boyfriend asks Vanyel to help him seek revenge against the killer of his brother.
Later in the Vanyel series, the adult Vanyel has a close relationship with his aunt and reconciles with his parents--- just at a time when they become burdens to him, people he must protect with his now-great magical skills. So the author can make Vanyel a near-orphan when that is more dramatic and restores his family just when the family is no longer a needed support but people Vanyel has to protect. The best of both worlds, for a writer.
Who are your favorite fictional orphans, half-orphans, and almost-orphans? How does the effect of the characters' being orphans affect the story? Have you ever used orphans in your fiction? How did that work out? Are you writing any orphan characters right now?
In my as-yet-unnamed NaNo novel, the heroine, Hana Li, is the orphan child of parents who died on a starship while traveling to a colony planet. She was raised on a space station orphanage before getting a job on a colony planet, working for a man who lives in a creepy, castle-like structure which at the time of Hana's arrival is deserted for no reason Hana can detect. It turns out the owners of the castle are away, and they have hired a whole new staff of servants for their home as well as moving the inhabitants of three villages elsewhere and replacing them with farming folk from other parts of their world.
Strong's Concordance (essential Bible Study tool):
New Strong's Exhautive Concordance (Super Value Series)
Blog Link:
The Anne Shirley Project: Anne Shirley and orphans in fiction
My page at NaNoWriMo:
http://nanowrimo.org/participants/ilsabein
My Facebook writing page:
http://www.facebook.com/NissaAnnakindt
Thought provoking post and very informative. Being able to rise up against the odds is very intriguing in literature and movies.
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