How can a author reveal more information about a characters?

Authors can reveal their characters in basically two ways. They can directly tell the reader what the character is like, such as "He was a happy man." They can also indirectly show the reader, such as "He always saw the positive in a situation and believed that the world was basically a good place." Indirect characterization is the most effective for the main characters, while direct characterization is the best way to describe the background characters.