The Cardinal of the Kremlin, In The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy, many characters play important, but minor, roles. They may appear in one part of the book and never resurface again, because this book is more about a situation than a person. There are however three characters that appear more relevant and more often than the others, these characters are Archer, Misha and Jack Ryan. The Archer was an Afghan in his thirties. He was a mathematics teacher until three years ago and a university graduate in a country where most people considered it enough to know how to read the Quran. He had married young, as was the custom in his country, and fathered two children. But his wife and daughter were dead, killed by rockets fired by a Russian strike fighter. He believed his son had been kidnapped and shipped to the Soviet Union, where he would be educated and trained in modern ways. The archer knew he must avenge the trials imposed on him. In the following passage, it is shown that the archer is a fierce vigilante who believes that he himself must right the injustices of society: "The professor of algebra and geometry has carefully stacked his books on his desk and came out of the small town of Ghazni and entered the A week later, he had returned to town at nightfall with three other men and proved himself worthy of his legacy by killing three Soviet soldiers and by taking their weapons. The Archer later goes on to say, "I still carry the knife that once belonged to my first sacrificial Russian." This quote shows that Archer is almost ritualistic in his dealings and that he believes that all Russians are despicable primates who do not deserve the term. "human being." The Archer, while evil by modern Western standards, considers himself a mujaheddin, or freedom fighter, and that he acts in accordance with the divine will of Allah. He praises the god whenever he is given the opportunity; an example of this is when he disdainfully utters "in the name of Allah, I will strike you to death", and again when the author writes "The Archer blessed the name of Allah by removing his knife from its scabbard. These aforementioned quotes also show that the Archer was abnormally violent and felt little to no remorse for the lives he killed. In fact, he viewed his murders as his contribution to his country, his family and himself. Colonel-Marshal Yazov or Misha, as he was known, was a former tank captain of the Soviet Union, decorated three times with the honors of Hero of the Soviet Union. He fought for his country for many years and was recently promoted to Defense General, the highest defensive position in the government. Misha is introduced early on and presented as more than just a stereotypical, uncompromising Russian soldier who cares more about vodka than his family. When the reader first hears about Misha, he is talking to a woman at a social function about junior hockey and the joy it brings Misha to see his son play it. He says, “I am now four times proud of his grandfather,” showing that he is also very emotional. Misha is softened even more when he reveals: "Anna, my one true love and the mother of my children, died of cancer." At this point, the reader finds it hard to believe that this man has the power to deploy nuclear weapons at any time and against whomever he wishes. The book, however, reaffirms your original impression of him when you learn that Misha copied top secret information and secretly informed the CIA of its contents. One problem I have with this character is that he is,.