Significance of a Minor Character

Significance of a Minor Character

Minor characters are the backbones of all literary pieces of work. They can have an overall affect that can change the development of a story. These minute characters can provide further insight into the mind of the leading character(s) through their actions. In the short story "The Outcasts of Poker Flat", Uncle Billy is a diminutive character that alters the upcoming events faced by the other characters. His actions force the other characters to use an alternative way to solve their dilemma. Another minute character that makes a big difference is the old timer in the short story "To Build a Fire". The old timer gives useful advice to the man but blatantly ignores it. These two minor characters in both of these pieces show that a small and negligible character can make a huge impact on the development of the story.

Uncle Billy in "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" alters the way the other characters can solve their problem. In the story, Uncle Billy steals the mules and heads back into Poker Flat leaving the other characters stranded in a snowstorm. "But turning to where Uncle Billy had been lying, he found him gone. A suspicion leaped to his brain and a curse to his lips. He ran to the spot where the mules had been tethered: they were no longer there" (Harte 585). With the few supplies obtained, the characters rely upon themselves to correct the problem. The minor character in the story creates problems for the other characters to solve. For every action, there is a reaction. Uncle Billy creates an unnecessary action for which the other characters have to react. This incidence shows that a minor character can cause big difference in the development of the story.

Another minor character which has an influence on other characters is the old timer. In "To Build a Fire" an elderly man gives prudent advice to the man in prospect for gold. His advice says to never go out alone in the middle of the Yukon in minus fifty degree weather. "He remembered the advice of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek, and smiled. The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below" (London 618). The old timer's wise and influential advice was not heeded by the man. If he had followed his advice then maybe he could have

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