In The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, there exists a Mrs Pillai. Appearing for a chapter towards the end, only as a secondary character to the scene of Comrade Pillai and Chacko, there is nothing out of the ordinary in there. Analyses aren’t made on her, and neither is she the discussion point in literary circles, for she is simply just a wife, doing what a wife does traditionally.
But her relationship as a wife is what makes her interesting. Comrade Pillai, the communist leader in the book, her husband, despite the sermons of equality and preaching the principles of Marxism, at home is like any traditional husband. Within the scene, the readers are faced with a tension of hypocrisy where an obedient wife exists around a political leader benefiting from his privilege within the capitalist notions of family. It is her character that illustrates the societal expectations of a wife and the dilemma of viewing a communist leader unable to check his power. How even those against privilege are blind to their privilege.
Minor characters in books and other media are often as central and deliberate towards a plot as the primary characters. These characters present a contrast or question to the main characters and the readers, showcasing human nature and the way in which people, as socialised beings, interact with each other. These minor characters have not only been analysed but also have been an influence on many writers. A notable example is Charlotte Brontë reading Jane Austen’s Emma and being inspired by the governess called Jane. This later takes the form of her most well-known work, Jane Eyre.
Within Jane Eyre are numerous characters that are forgotten after the initial read. For example, Bessie, a servant, one of the only kind figures in Jane’s early life, later marries a coachman named Robert Leavan. The novel briefly mentions her transition from a nursemaid to a housewife and mother. The theme is natural. Yet it begs the question: why is it natural? Bessie represents an ordinary woman who, even today, when married, considers forgoing employment to focus on her domestic role. The argument is that a woman must choose between the two. Liberal feminism would argue that women before did not have a choice and had to take up the domestic role; the modern woman can balance both. On the other hand, radical explanations would argue about the structure of the family and the novel itself, which makes this change look seamless, reflecting the morality of Brontë’s era and even that of today.
Indeed, later in the novel, Jane forgoes employment to marry Mr Rochester and take care of him in a rather domestic role. Thus showing that it is marriage and domesticity that truly complete a woman’s life.
Whether the representation of values and norms is deliberate or a consequential phenomenon is hard to explain. It is even harder to tell whether the background characters are important to the author as individual characters or merely exist to give the work a fuller look. However, the intention behind these minor characters can be sidelined since, either way, they present themselves as mirrors to society not only in literature but also in visual media.
In the recent A Knight of Seven Kingdoms by HBO, the tourney has a significant crowd gathered of the common folk cheering. This audience has general reactions of praise, cursing, celebrating, and booing the participants of the tourney. The common folks’ reactions take a cutting edge when the Trial of the Seven is happening. For context, the series is one of the prequels to A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones), and the Targaryens are ruling. The crowd illustrates a silent rebellion driven by the hatred of their rulers in cheers every time the Targaryen
Prince Aerion is injured. It explains that the forthcoming fall of this dynasty has already been set into motion because the masses are no longer singing praises and instead despising the new generations.
Literature, generally, places events in an intentional way with a deliberate meaning behind. The story of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov has the notorious character of Humbert Humbert, grappling with insanity throughout the book. During a stay at a hotel with the twelve year old Dolores, a man asks him while alone, “Where the devil did you get her?” Humbert, confused, implies for him to repeat, to which this man says, “I said the weather’s getting better.” Many perspectives can be offered to this. The first one is the implication that a wrongdoer recognises another wrongdoer. And the second, more important one being that Humbert’s guilt of having Dolores as a lover is making his consciousness question him. Instead of a man, it is just his inner voice. This forgotten encounter shows the inner workings of a pedophile. The general belief surrounding this group of people is that they lack consciousness or a common sense of morality. Yet here the reader sees that he does have a conscience, only that it is not being followed and the common moral beliefs are, in fact, present, but regularly negotiated.
In many different ways, minor characters question or conform to the value systems of today and of the past. The reader may forget about them or they may not hold much value individually, but they make an important part of literature and have the potential to become a topic of major research in the future. These characters offer patterns to life and the way actions are embedded as a system and not just out of free will.