What do characters do for a story? They create the action. They reveal the setting. They help reveal the theme. Or they explain the plot.
Characters play several vital roles in a story:
1. Drive the plot: Characters are the driving force behind the events that unfold in a story. Their actions, decisions, and interactions propel the plot forward. Without characters making choices and taking actions, there would be no story.
2. Create conflict: Characters often hold conflicting goals, desires, or personalities that lead to conflict within the story. These conflicts drive the tension and suspense, making the narrative engaging and compelling for the reader.
3. Reveal the setting: Through their interactions with the environment and the world around them, characters help to establish and reveal the setting. Their observations, experiences, and relationships with the setting provide the reader with a deeper understanding of the story's time, place, and atmosphere.
4. Develop the theme: Characters embody and explore the themes of a story through their beliefs, values, and choices. They can serve as vehicles for the author to convey ideas and provoke thought about the larger messages and lessons the story seeks to convey.
5. Engage the reader: Characters are often the primary means by which readers connect emotionally with a story. Readers invest in characters, sympathize with their struggles, and become emotionally invested in their journeys, enhancing their overall reading experience.
In summary, characters actively participate in a story by driving the plot, creating conflict, revealing the setting, developing the theme, and engaging the reader on an emotional level.