The Engineer of Human Souls: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Engineer of Human Souls" delves into the complex lives of its major characters, primarily centered around Daniel Smiricky, a Czechoslovakian writer and literature professor now living in Toronto. Haunted by memories of his homeland and past, Smiricky grapples with his identity as an exile, marked by grief and social discomfort. His relationship with Irene, a wealthy and young student, offers a glimmer of hope, suggesting a possible escape from his troubled past. Other characters, such as Larry Hakim, a politically charged student, challenge Smiricky’s views on literature and politics, while the poignant memories of Nadia, a girl from his youth, serve as reminders of lost innocence and unfulfilled potential.
The narrative also explores the perspectives of other émigrés like Veronika, who impulsively chooses to return to Czechoslovakia, and Milena, who adjusts well to life in the West. The history of resistance figures like Prema and Vachousek illustrates the enduring legacy of political struggle, impacting Smiricky's own journey. Through these characters, the work reflects on themes of exile, identity, and the haunting shadows of the past, inviting readers to consider the diverse experiences of those who have been uprooted from their homelands.
The Engineer of Human Souls: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Josef Škvorecký
First published: Pribeh inzenýra lidských dusí, 1977 (2 volumes; English translation, 1984)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Toronto, Canada
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: The 1970's
Daniel Smiricky (SMIH-rzhihts-kee), a forty-eight-year-old Czechoslovakian writer employed as a literature professor at Edenvale College in Toronto. Often preoccupied with memories of his lost youth and lost homeland, Smiricky lives the pains of the exile: grief, social discomfort, linguistic disorientation, and political fear. Self-absorbed and dependent on women but without one, Smiricky struggles to find a professional, social, and political place for himself in Western culture. His journeys through the academic, literary, and émigré communities provide a spectrum of ideologies, ethics, and emotions that counterpoint and contextualize his own views. With the acquisition of a beautiful nineteen-year-old girlfriend, Irene, he seems to be quieting the ghosts of his wartime past and starting life anew.
Irene Svensson, an affluent student at Edenvale College. A voluptuous blonde with a Cadillac, Irene becomes Smiricky's lover and accompanies him to Paris during reading week. She asserts that she intends to marry him.
Larry Hakim (hah-KEEM), a sophomore in Smiricky's American literature class. Intensely ideological, this Iranian youth engages his professor in several heated discussions of the political implications of the works of Joseph Conrad and William Faulkner. Hakim's rabid fanaticism challenges Smiricky to articulate more fully his own politics and his political readings of the works being examined.
Nadia Jirouskova (jih-ROOS-koh-vah), a teenage girl impressed into labor in the Messerschmitt factory in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. A frail peasant girl, she worked beside Smiricky in the factory and inspired his boyish attempts at heroism and succumbed to his boyish charms. Although dead of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-one, she still provides tender and vivid memories for Smiricky.
Veronika Prst, a student at Edenvale. A young Czechoslovakian exile overcome with melancholy, Veronika chooses impulsively to return to her homeland regardless of conditions there. Other émigrés often consider, and often debate, doing as she did.
Milena “Dotty” Cabricarova (kah-bree-KAH-roh-vah), a Czech émigré in Toronto. Always quirkily dressed and seemingly scatterbrained, Milena is Smiricky's dearest personal friend in Toronto, although they see each other infrequently. She marries a businessman and happily adjusts to life in the West.
Prema Skocopole (PREH-mah SKOH-koh-poh-leh), a teenage leader of the resistance to Nazis in Kostelec, Smiricky's hometown. The self-appointed commander of a tiny, fragmented, and boyish underground movement during the German occupation, Prema survived the war and immigrated to Australia. He continues to write to Smiricky for thirty years. A brief return to Kostelec convinces him that he must stay in permanent exile.
Jan Prouza, a poet friend of Smiricky who chose to remain in Czechoslovakia after the Russian invasion in 1968. Smiricky followed Prouza's battles with censorship from afar. Exhausted by his struggle against the constraints of Socialist Realism, Prouza committed suicide in August, 1972.
Vachousek (VAH-choo-sehk), a Czechoslovakian foreman at the Messerschmitt factory during the occupation. Years later, Smiricky discovers that Vachousek was a prominent resistance leader, while in the factory and for decades afterward. He was captured and executed in the 1970's. Smiricky regards him as a true hero.