The short story and characters

On account of the technical limitations of the short story the number
of characters which may have principal or "speaking" parts is very
small--in general only two, and frequently but one. There are usually
other characters present to help out the action, but they are merely
supernumeraries, without form, life or influence. There are many
violations of this rule, I admit, among them such stories as
Hawthorne's "The Great Stone Face," "The Seven Vagabonds," and "The
Great Carbuncle;" but analysis shows them to be panoramic or episodic
in effect, and really violating the unity of action which the short
story demands. For similar reasons the characters presented must be
unnaturally isolated, with little past and less future, and most
strangely lacking in relatives; for the few thousand words of the
short story permit but a cursory treatment of the ancestry, birth,
breeding and family of the one or two important characters. If by any
trick they can be made the last of a long line, and be snatched from
obscurity into the momentary glare of the lime light, so much the
better for author, reader and character; but if some portion of their
history bears upon the story, let it be presented by subtle touches,
preferably by references in the dialogue, so that the reader obtains
the necessary knowledge without being conscious of the means.
The few real characters in the story must be made unusually interesting
on account of their loneliness. They compose the story, they represent
the human race, and if they fail us we are in sad straits. They must
be individual; they must stand out sharply from the page, clear and
attractive, and leave no doubt of their personalities. More than any
other form of fiction, the short story depends upon its hero and
heroine, who have "star parts" and monopolize the stage of action. We
must see them so vividly that when they speak and act we shall perceive
them as actual personages. It is such accuracy of depiction that makes
Rip Van Winkle, Sherlock Holmes, Van Bibber, and a host of others enter
into our thoughts and speech as if they had really lived.
Category:Character