It’s almost trite at this point to tell writers of fiction that they should “show, not tell” what’s going on around their characters and in their minds.
One way to do this is let setting do some of the heavy lifting of characterization.
This is especially doable if you have early scenes set in a place that a character is clearly responsible for: his home, his home, his yard, his office, his car, etc.
What is the state of that space? Is it well tended? Well ordered? Clean? Is it somewhat in disorder? Is it bright and cheerfully decorated? More austere? Is the furniture expensive and nice? Second-hand? Dinged up?
Those kinds of details related to setting can say a lot about your character without saying anything explicitly about him.
A character’s relationship to the setting can also characterize him, as we discussed yesterday regarding the Shire.
The Shire is a place, in every sense, worth saving. The hobbits understand this, of course, as the Shire is their home. Gandalf understands this even more than the hobbits do, on a philosophical level. This is proof, from the start, of Gandalf’s good and wise heart.
Gandalf is able to appreciate the right things.
Another example: in Persuasion, by Jane Austen, Anne Elliot’s family (especially Sir Walter and Elizabeth) care even more about appearing rich, and about social status, than they do about actual wealth, and this is reflected in how the respond to the various settings they find themselves in.
When Anne leaves the family home, Kellynch Hall, to visit her sister Mary, she immediately is struck by how nonsensical and unimportant Sir Walter and Elizabeth’s concerns are, and she wishes they could see that too.
The change of setting works an epiphany in Anne that shows her to be a sensible, practical woman with a kind heart, not grasping, egotistical, or greedy.
Is there an example of a setting you’ve loved that helped in the work of characterization?
Creative Writing with the Crimson League 
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