Background Characters

We all know of the background characters in our favorite stories. They're there to support the story, help the main characters, move along the main plot, but they don't ever quite have a plot of their own. No real motive, no real relationships, there is nothing meaningful to their story. That's because it isn't their story, they're simply just living in someone else's story, someone else's world. 

The thing about living in someone else's world is that it doesn't look bad. It can almost be passed off as a utopia. The problem with utopias, though, is that they are impossible to achieve. We may think the character is happy, we may think that everything is fine for them, that they don't want anything from this story. Well, they don't want anything from the story, because the story is not theirs. They want their own story, they no longer want to be just a pit stop in someone else's story. They want to be a destination or even be on a journey of their own. The authors never give them their own journey, though. These characters are here for a moment, then gone. Whether they provide physical help, advice, teaching, whatever it may be, they are useful but they are never permanent.

The saddest thing a background character can be is a teacher. No, not a teacher such as in a classroom, but a teacher in a relationship. They're the person the main character is with before they go and find their true love. The sad part about it though, is that the author never gives them their true love. They just continue to be a teacher, someone that the main characters look back upon and remember what they learned from them. 

But these background characters never complain. They never stand up for themselves. They swallow their pride, hide their frustration, and wipe the tears off their faces before giving the audience a smile and disappearing back into their given role. These characters aren't allowed to speak up, they aren't allowed to stand up and say that they shouldn't be getting used like this. They don't get to stand in front of the main character and say "pick me". The worst part about it is that the main character never stops and looks at them. They never turn around and say "I want you.". They just keep moving. The feelings are never expressed, the pain is never showed. 

These characters remain silent. 

Some people in the real world can feel like they are background characters too. They can have people in their life that they so dearly wish would see that they are standing right there in front of them, wanting to be their main character. They want to be a bigger part of the story. They want to be the person the main character falls in love with, but the main character just never seems to see them. Sure, they're a part of their life, a part of their story, but they will never be the person that takes up all the inner dialogue. They will never be the destination on the stories journey. The main character falling for a background character always either doesn't happen, or it is simply just a part of the exposition or rising action. It will never be the fairytale ending of the story.