Kris Kelvin
Kris Kelvin is the protagonist of the novel. Despite being the central character of the novel he is not heroic, discarding traditional notions of main characters. In fact most of the time he serves as just that, a narrator, who true to his duty as a scientific explorer observes and reports without much bias or personal insertions the events he bears witness to. He is, for the most part, a tabula rasa defined through his recollections of another character, Rheya, and his interactions with a clone of her created by the planet Solaris. Events in the novel are told in first person narration through him. The relative blandness and blankness of his character however is deliberate as he used as a lens by the author to explore the central themes discussed in the novel such as identity and existentialism.
Rheya
Rheya is an interesting character in that she appears both as recollections from Kris’ past, because she was once his wife but she died having committed suicide prior to events in the book, then later on as a mysterious physical clone birthed from planet Solaris’ oceans. The clone Rheya that Kris interacts with in the novel is eerily similar in most every regard to the original Rheya that had passed away, even manifesting self-destructive behaviors. Despite appearances and behavioral manifestations however it is very clear that this version is not at all human possessing superhuman regenerative abilities and the ability to derive sustenance by drinking liquid oxygen. Both the clone and memory of the human Rheya are constantly being compared and contrasted, again, the character being used as a plot device to further the discussions on the themes of identity and existentialism.
Solaris
Solaris is the name of the alien planet that Kris travels to as part of a scientific expedition. The planet is a relatively tranquil location and it is covered by a planet-wide expanse of “ocean” that turns out to be the dominant sentient life form on Solaris. Solaris/Solaris’ ocean’s sentience however is nowhere on what or how humans would traditionally understand the concept of self-awareness and cognition, again, a deliberate move on part of the author as Solaris is also used as a plot device to move the story forward and to discuss the predominant themes in the novel. The “creature” is an inscrutable character—character being a term loosely used—as its motivations are never clearly discussed. One thing is sure however, the being/organism is capable of making biological simulacra of a person’s deepest, most painful repressed thoughts and this creates great tension among the characters in the novel.
