The Horseman on the Roof: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Horseman on the Roof" is a novel that centers on Angélo Pardi, a young hussar colonel navigating through a cholera-stricken landscape in France while reflecting on his past and seeking self-discovery. As he escapes from the villagers in Manosque who mistakenly believe he has poisoned their well, Angélo embodies a heroic archetype, driven by an innate sense of justice and idealism. His journey is marked by encounters with various characters, each contributing to his understanding of morality and the human condition.
Pauline de Théus, his companion, contrasts Angélo with her own fears but complements his resolve, showcasing the complexities of their shared experiences. Giuseppe, Angélo's foster brother, represents opportunism, complicating Angélo's idealistic worldview. Other significant characters include a nameless Doctor/Goldsmith, who philosophically reflects on the relationship between cholera and human behavior, and a dedicated nun who embodies faith and courage in the face of suffering. Through these interactions, the novel explores themes of individual conscience, social responsibility, and the moral implications of a society grappling with disease and despair.
The Horseman on the Roof: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Jean Giono
First published: Le Hussard sur le toit, 1951 (The Hussar on the Roof, 1953; better known as The Horseman on the Roof)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Provence
Plot: Symbolic realism
Time: 1838
Angélo Pardi (pahr-DEE), a twenty-five-year-old hussar colonel making his way home from France to Piedmont, where he had been involved in the Risorgimento (Italian revolution) and from which he had fled after killing an Austrian spy in a duel. As the horseman of the title, Angélo has a “rooftop” view of life, suggested by his flight across the rooftops of Manosque (the author's native village) from angry and panicked villagers who think he has poisoned the town well. As he travels down the cholera-ridden Rhone Valley, he has the habit of questioning his own actions and motivations in the middle of the epidemic. This habit, his fearlessness, and his tendency to describe the epidemic in military terms are complemented by his complete sincerity, selflessness, and idealism. He has an innate sense of justice and believes in the primacy of individual conscience. After descending from the rooftops of Manosque, Angélo continues his journey, successfully meeting challenge after challenge in this heroic tale of self-discovery, which pits him against angry mobs, French militia, a variety of strange individuals, and, ultimately, nature, embodied mainly by the cholera epidemic.
Pauline de Théus (tay-YEWS), the young wife of the elderly Marquis de Théus, who does not appear in the novel. She is the perfect complement to Angélo. It is she who helps him escape from Manosque. Described only as having a face like a fer-de-lance (a venomous tropical American snake or a spearhead), she is his equal in their shared journey, whether scaling walls, handling heavy military pistols, crawling on all fours, or examining her conscience. Like Angélo, she feels compelled to involve herself in the challenges of life under the cholera by confronting them directly. Whereas Angélo experiences elation in doing so, however, Pauline experiences fear. There is a suggestion that it may be her fear that makes her vulnerable to the cholera toward the end of the story, but she survives to continue in life with Angélo. Her survival coincides with the end of the cholera epidemic.
Giuseppe, Angélo's foster brother and fellow revolutionary. He is opportunistic, in contrast to Angélo's idealism. Ironically, it is he who spreads the rumor about the well of Manosque being poisoned, thus causing the townspeople to suspect Angélo and chase him onto the rooftops when they see him near the well.
The Doctor/Goldsmith, something of an alchemist living in a secluded and deserted mountain village. He is nameless and is the last character encountered, but he is the most important after Pauline and Angélo. He serves both as a spokesman for the author's moral point of view and as a kind of mirror for Angélo, explaining the cholera's relationship to humans in metaphorical terms. Meeting him marks the final stage in Angélo's journey of self-discovery. Their discussion of the cholera includes the roles of selfishness and selflessness in one's vulnerability to the disease. He specifically responds to Angélo's queries regarding the behavior of other characters.
The little Frenchman, a young doctor who is never named. He inspires Angélo with his apparently selfless and untiring efforts to save victims of the cholera, only to succumb to the cholera himself. His own egotism is revealed, however, when he says that not a single one of the victims will give him the pleasure of saving them.
The nun, a cigar-smoking, no-nonsense sister who is devoted as much to helping cholera victims “pass over” as to helping them survive. She inspires Angélo with her lack of fear and the strength of her faith.
The solo clarinetist of the Marseilles Opera, a man encountered in the countryside by Pauline and Angélo. He is also in the process of self-discovery in the wilderness of Provence and makes interesting comments about the cholera as some sort of just retribution for humans being out of harmony with nature.
The cloth merchant, the only inhabitant left in a village abandoned because of the cholera. He is a reflective man whose role is like that of the little Frenchman or the nun; that is, he gives Angélo food for thought about the moral meaning of the cholera, suggesting that it is the consequence of people failing to be aware of the earth.