Absent-minded characters are characters that aren't really seen in a story but change the outlook of other. Many people don't know the influence or affect of a person "behind the scenes." Just because a person isn't addressed in a novel or other work of art, doesn't mean that they don't have a huge affect on the story. In the novel Timbuktu, by Paul Auster, is a perfect example of the changes an absent-minded person can make in a novel. The deaths that occur in this novel also create many adjustments.

In Timbuktu, many examples of absent-minded characters are given. For instance, Ms. Bea Swanson was Willy's old English teacher. Bea Swanson was the person that he wanted to give his beloved Mr. Bones to, but because she only showed up in the novel during a dream, she wasn't actually...