Ferdydurke: Analysis of Major Characters
"Ferdydurke: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the intricate and often absurd dynamics of its characters, reflecting on themes of youth, maturity, and societal expectations. Central to the narrative is Johnnie, the narrator and protagonist, who, at thirty years old, finds himself ensnared in a surreal adolescent experience governed by external perceptions. He grapples with the pressures of identity and conformity, particularly through his interactions with authority figures like Professor Pimko, a pompous educator who exacerbates Johnnie's feelings of helplessness.
Other significant characters include Zutka Youthful, Johnnie's love interest, who embodies the complexities of youthful exuberance and dominance, and various schoolmates like Siphon and Mientus, whose contrasting ideologies further complicate the exploration of innocence and societal roles. The narrative also features the Youthful family, particularly Mrs. Mary Youthful, whose misguided attempts at modernity reflect broader societal themes. Through these character studies, "Ferdydurke" presents a layered critique of social structures and the struggles of individual identity within them. This analysis invites readers to reflect on the broader implications of adolescence and maturity in contemporary society.
Ferdydurke: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Witold Gombrowicz
First published: 1937 (English translation, 1961)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Poland
Plot: Farce
Time: The mid-1930's
Johnnie, the narrator, a writer. At the age of thirty, Johnnie finds himself trapped behind an adult “face” created by others. Realizing this when critics attack his first book, he regresses to adolescence, becoming embroiled against his will in the novel's bizarre plot as though in a dream of immaturity. Abducted and returned to school by the pedantic Professor Pimko, he is powerless to convince anyone that he does not belong there or to assert a truly mature individuality. Passive and irresolute in general, Johnnie rarely articulates his feelings, acting furtively instead. Boarding at the home of the Youthfuls, for example, he falls in love with Zutka but wages a campaign of irrational behavior against her charms, finally bringing about a general brawl. In a world in which meaningful relationships are impossible, once Johnnie subverts the social forms that prevent genuine human contact, escape is his only recourse. At the novel's end, he runs away from his uncle's estate.
Professor T. Pimko, an educator. A ridiculous, bald little man in striped pants and tailcoats, he is so self-assured and overbearingly pedantic that he renders Johnnie helplessly boyish. He leads Johnnie off to school and later to the Youthfuls' home. Pimko's authority is shattered only after he is smitten by Zutka.
Pylaszczkiewicz (pee-LAHSH-kah-vihch), called Siphon, Johnnie's schoolmate. Leader of the idealistic, purist faction at school, he engages in a duel of grimaces with Mientus. Victorious, he is then physically assaulted and his innocence violated through his ears, with fatal results.
Mientus, Johnnie's schoolmate. Leader of the school faction denying youth's innocence, he is the most innocent of all, though he spouts obscenities and engages in the duel with Siphon that freezes his face in an ugly grimace. Obsessed with a privileged boy's notions of stable-lad purity, he runs off with Johnnie to the country, where his repeated attempts to fraternize with the servant Bert disrupt the social system.
Kopeida, Johnnie's schoolmate and rival for Zutka. Extremely self-possessed, he stands aloof from the factional strife at school and resists Johnnie's friendly approaches. Later, drawn to Zutka's bedroom by a forged note, he loses his composure.
Zutka Youthful, Johnnie's beloved. Sixteen years old, slim, and athletic, she is the model of the stylish modern schoolgirl, ignorant, insolent, and passionate for life. With her seductive thighs reducing all men to slavish adolescents, she glories in youth's dominance, a tyranny Johnnie can ridicule and ruffle but not undermine.
Mrs. Mary Youthful, Zutka's mother. Cultivated, fat, and high-minded, she is involved in all the right causes and embraces all the right ideas. Wielding modernity in her eagerness to be a sister rather than a mother, she encourages Zutka's youthfulness in the most mindless ways and despises Johnnie's self-conscious posing.
Mr. Victor Youthful, an engineer and architect. Tanned, informal, and vacuous, he at first vies with his wife in spouting platitudes and urging his daughter to be modern. Johnnie's odd behavior reduces him to a depraved, gibbering buffoon, but he sobers up when he catches Pimko and Kopeida in Zutka's room.
Aunt Hurlecka (huhr-LEH-skah), Johnnie's aunt. An oblivious woman of suffocating kindness, she constantly doles out sweets and reminiscences to keep everyone childish.
Uncle Edward, an estate owner. Tall, thin, and delicate, he is the epitome of the bored, pampered, and insensitive aristocrat who responds to others in terms of class. His own social position rests on the exploitation of indispensable servants he despises and fears, and his brutal treatment of Bert at the end results in a rebellion.
Alfred, Johnnie's cousin. A budding young aristocrat whose identity is determined by family and class, he shows little interest in Johnnie until the latter slaps Bert. His ludicrous involvement with an older peasant woman points out the childishness of the landed gentry.
Isabel, Johnnie's cousin, an ordinary girl seemingly incapable of discussing anything except her innumerable ailments. Her youthful passions are aroused in the end when Johnnie abducts her to cover his flight.
Bert, a stable boy. This rustic youth attracts Mientus' attentions, a violation of social form that causes Bert to mock his “betters” and the system. His eventual defense of Mientus precipitates the novel's final outbreak of chaos.
Philifor and Anti-Philifor, rival professors. Characters in an absurdist fable, they represent the dialectical struggle between synthesis and analysis. Anti-Philifor's attempt to dissolve his rival's wife into her parts is countered by Philifor's synthesizing of the higher self of the other's mistress, all of which leads to a duel in which the women's extremities are shot off.