Who is Richard Sharpe from Sharpe's Tiger and what is their importance?

Sharpe is a young private in the British army and is stationed in India. He yearns to desert the army and start a better life with his romantic interest, Mary Bickerstaff. Sharpe's prostitute mother had abandoned him shortly after his birth and as a result he grew up an orphan who becomes street-wise and tough. He knows how to fight and thinks quickly while under enormous pressure.