【正文】 ne of t he answers t o t he quest i on ―why‖—i s of f undam ent al i m port ance. I. What is Character? Cl osel y r el ated wi t h the stor y is t he char act er . Henr y Jam es sai d, “What i s character but the det erm inati on of i nci dent ? What i s i nci dent but t he i l ust rat i on of charact er?‖ (The Art of Fi ct i on‖) When we read a novel , we read about our fel low bei ngs, and t hat i s one of the m ot ives i n readi ng at al l. The “fel low bei ngs” i n t he novel is t er med char act ers. By “fel low bei ngs” i s meant not onl y “human bei ngs” but also “other bei ngs, ” such as ani mals. Gee Or wel uses anim al s t o r epr esent hum an bei ngs i n his novel Ani mal Farm. Lewi s Car r ol cr eat es m any l ovel y anim al s in hi s Ali ce’s Advent ures i n Wonderl and that appeal t o bot h chil dr en and adult s. Or wel does not i nt end t o convince t he r eader t hat ani mal s can speak hum an l anguage or that he i s a t ransl ator bet ween ani mals and humans. No sensibl e reader, after readi ng Orwel ‘s Ani mal Farm, woul d go t o t he pi gst y to l ook f or a t alki ng boar. Thi s pr oves t he agr eed on fi cti onali t y of char act er s in novels. So broadly, a character i s an i nvent ed personali t y t o resem ble but never to equal a real person i n l if e. I t is not di f fi cult t o see that char act er s i n novels r esem bl e peopl e in r eal l if e i n m any ways. They have names used i n t he sam e way our s are used, t hey have hatr ed and love, and t hey have desi r es and f ear s. Above al, t hey act t he way we act or t he way we can under st and (l i ke or di sli ke). But we m ust bear i n mi nd that the char act ers ar e not r eal persons, but m er el y i nvent i ons, however i ngeni ous. Com pare t he physical ife and spi ri t ual li fe of t he charact ers and ours. We have to answer t he nat ure‘s cal l several tim es a day, but char act er s sel dom do t hi s, even i n t he m ost reali st ic or natur al isti c novel s. We have t o li ve our li fe hour by hour and day by day, but char act er s never do t hi s. They choose t o li ve som e ti me m or e f ul l y tha n ot hers, and ar e able t o ski p over per i ods on t en m ont hs or t went y year s wit hout seemi ng weir d, a f eat which we can never at tempt. In our li fe, our m i nds are a gray mat er even t o sci ent ists. We can not know what i s going on i n ot her‘s mi nd. But i n novel s, t he m i nds of t he character s ar e open or can be m ade open t o the r eader if t he noveli st so chooses. The r eader does not onl y s ee t heir cl ot hes, but al so see t hei r m i nds. One char act er m ay be enemy t o ot her char act er s, but he i s fr iend t o the r eader, befor e whom he can t hi nk aloud, t o borrow Em erson‘s words. Charact ers do not li ve, but act . When we wat ch act ors speak al oud t o t hem sel ves on t he st age as i f they wer e al one, we know they are acti ng and t hey ar e dif f er ent f r om what hey r epr esent i n r eal li f e. The char act ers i n novel s exi st i n a sim il ar m anner. II. Ki nds of Charact ers Usual l y, a novel has mor e than one char act er . They i nter act wi th each other and m ake up the st or y. But t hey ar e not equal ly i mport ant or have the sam e f uncti on t o the novel ist. By their r ol es i n t he novel , t he char act ers can be gr ouped as her oes, mai n char act er s and m i nor char act er s, and f oil s. The charact er on whom a novel i s cal led t he hero or heroine when i t is a fem al e charact er. The word ―hero‖ ori gi nal y refers t o a m an, i n m ythol ogy and l egend, often of di vi ne ancest ry, who i s endowed wi t h great courage and st rengt h, cel ebr ated f or hi s hold expl oit s, and f avor ed by t he gods. In the novel , the word “hero” is fred of such nobl e requi rements and any central characters can be l abel ed as heroes. Jonat han Wi ld i s t he her o i n t he novel of t he same name by Henr y Fi el di ng, t hough he i s a notor ious highwaym an. Some cri ti cs, annoyed by the connotati on of “hero,” prefer the word “protagoni st, ” whi ch sounds neutral. The enem y or rival of t he prot agonist is cal ed ―ant agoni st .‖ The m ai n or m aj or charact ers are t hose i n close and dynam ic rel at ion wi t h t he hero or heroi ne. Close rel at i on does not m ean good relati on. Pabl o in For Whom t he Bel l Tol l s i s const ant ly f i ndi ng t r oubl e wit h t he her o Jor dan, yet he is a m ai n char act er as hi s wi fe Pi lar is. Mi nor character s ar e t hose i n rem ot e and st at i c r elati on wi th t he her o. It i s wr ong t o t hi nk t hat mi nor charact ers ar e al l unim port ant. I n som e novels, one or some of t he m i nor char act ers m ay ser ve a cr it i cal r ol e, str uct ural y or i nt erpr et at i onal y. Foil charact ers are ones t hat hel p enhance t he i ntensi t y of t he hero by strengtheni ng or contrast i ng. They m ay be m ai n characters or m i nor charact ers. I n a wor d, t hey serve as f oi ls t o t he her o or her oine. Cohn in The Sun Al so Ri ses i s a good exam pl e. He i s one of t he mai n charact ers. Li ke Jake, he i s also ―l ost, ‖ tryi ng vai nl y t o escape t he past by courti ng wom en and dr inki ng. But dur i ng t hei r st ay in Spai n, Cohn di spl ays qual it ies i n cont rast o t hose cheri shed by Jake, whi ch m akes Jake reali ze hi s own pr obl em s and fi nal ly f i nd a sol ut i on, t hough t em por aril y. Cohn wor ks m ai nl y by contr ast. Wil son in The Great Gat sby wor ks by pr esenti ng. Gat sby l ost hi s l over t o Tom and Wil son lost hi s wi fe t o Tom . By pr esenti ng Wi lson‘s case t he noveli st i ntends to poi nt out t he profound cause of Gatsby‘s t ragedy. Dr. Wat son i n t he stori es of Sher lock Holm es ser ves as a f oil t o the her o, r enderi ng t he det ecti ve sm ar t er t han he woul d ot her wise