Bearers of Possibility

I found this passage in a Writer's Chronicle article by Scott Nadelson, and it jumped out at me because of the minor character exercises and papers (in literature classes) that I've always found so liberating for students. It made me wonder (again) what I've learned from the apparently minor characters in my own world:

"...minor characters are the bearers of possibility, but they also bring into relief the impossibility of knowing what will come, the unavoidable mystery and uncertainty of living."

Minor characters are, after all, the heroes of their own stories.