The protagonist is the main character around whom the story evolves. The antagonist, if there is one, is his/her adversary, or his/her enemy.
We talk about main characters or minor characters.
The characters can be complex, round characters that develop throughout the story or they can be presented through only one or two characteristic features. They would then be described as flat characters.
Characterization is the manner in which the author creates an impression and gives background information so that we get to know the characters in a story. Sometimes the author will have the characters say or do unpleasant things so that we will dislike this character. It is however possible, that even unpleasant protagonists can win the sympathy of the reader.
It is important to understand that the authors try to manipulate us as readers to think and feel certain ways about the characters. Paying attention to how the writer is manipulating our thoughts/feelings (in other words how they are using characterisation) is a sophisticated analytical skill.
If the author presents the characters by telling the reader about them or by letting other characters tell us something about them, we speak of ‘telling’ or explicit (= direct) characterisation. If the author lets us learn about the characters by showing us what they say and by showing us their actions, we talk about ‘showing’ or implicit (= indirect) characterisation.
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