The Long Voyage: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Long Voyage: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the profound experiences and relationships of its central figures during World War II. The narrative centers around Manuel, a Spanish émigré and resistance fighter, who navigates the brutal landscape of German concentration camps. His companion, known as the guy from Semur, is a less experienced but courageous fellow fighter whose vulnerability becomes evident as their journey unfolds. Parallel to their story is Hans Frieberg, a Jewish philosophy student who joins the resistance but ultimately meets a tragic fate at the hands of the Gestapo.
Other significant characters include Michel, another friend who survives the ordeal and seeks closure regarding Hans, and various figures representing the spectrum of human behavior during wartime. Dr. Haas embodies the brutality of the regime, while Ramaillet represents selfish survival instincts, contrasting sharply with the camaraderie among the prisoners. Haroux, who endures the camp’s horrors, reflects a disillusionment with post-war France, especially towards the treatment of Spanish refugees like Manuel. Additionally, the narrative introduces Ilse Koch, a chilling figure symbolizing the dehumanizing aspects of the concentration camps, and Sigrid, whose superficial existence starkly contrasts with Manuel's harrowing past. This analysis not only highlights individual character arcs but also critiques broader themes of morality, resilience, and the complexities of human nature in extreme circumstances.
The Long Voyage: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Jorge Semprun
First published: Le Grand Voyage, 1963 (English translation, 1964)
Genre: Novel
Locale: France and Germany
Plot: Historical realism
Time: 1936–1945
Manuel (mahn-WEHL), also called Gérard (zhay-RAHR), a twenty-one-year-old member of the French resistance and formerly a philosophy student in Paris. Manuel is a Spanish Red who fled to France after Francisco Franco's victory in Spain. He is lucid, courageous, and a firm believer in human-kind's capacity for goodness and human solidarity, despite the horrors he witnesses in German concentration camps. As the novel begins, Manuel is traveling across Germany in a cattle car with other prisoners of war. The narrative then recounts his experience of the journey, his activities in the resistance before his arrest, the brutality of his existence in the camps, and finally his meditations after the war is over on the meaning of both his own sufferings and those of the other victims of the Nazis.
The guy from Semur (seh-MEWR), Manuel's companion and soul mate on the train ride, also a young resistance fighter whose courage and dignity sustain him through most of the journey. Poorly educated and an inexperienced provincial, the guy from Semur nevertheless makes judgments that are remarkably sound. As the journey progresses, Manuel's respect and admiration for him grows. Despite his courage and resolve, his fragile constitution cannot stand up to the rigors of the “long voyage,” and he dies of apparent heart failure shortly before the train arrives at the camp.
Hans Frieberg (FREE-behrg), a German Jewish émigré in Paris. He is a philosophy student and Manuel's friend. During the occupation, he joins the resistance because he does not want to die passively simply because he is a Jew. A member of the “Tabou” resistance network, he dies when the group's hideout is overrun by the Gestapo.
Michel (mee-SHEHL), the third of the group of student friends that includes Manuel and Hans. Michel also joins the resistance, operating under the name of Jacques. Like Manuel, he survives the war. At the novel's end, he accompanies Manuel on a journey to discover precisely what has become of Hans.
Dr. Haas, the Gestapo officer who arrests Manuel. He is characterized by his dapper appearance, his gold teeth, and his brutality.
Ramaillet (rah-mi-YAY), a black marketeer who is Manuel's cell mate at the prison at Auxerres, where Manuel is sent before being deported to Germany. He is the epitome of the small-minded, selfish individual who seeks to profit from the war. Although he regularly receives packages containing food in prison, he refuses to share them with his cell mates, preferring to wait until the latter are asleep to satisfy his hunger. When confronted with his selfishness, he speaks of the “injustice” of having to share with others who have nothing to offer in return.
Haroux (ah-REW), one of Manuel's fellow prisoners in the concentration camp; he also survives the war. He is cheerful, imperturbable, and proud of being French. Although he is still relatively young, his health has been destroyed by the rigors of camp existence. His hair is prematurely white, and his heart is severely weakened. After the war, he is disillusioned with his homeland when French authorities refuse to offer financial assistance to Manuel because he is Spanish.
Ilse Koch (EEL-zeh kosh), the wife of the concentration camp commandant. She is a short, squat woman with cold eyes and short hair. She takes prisoners as lovers; after their execution, she has their skin turned into lampshades.
Sigrid (see-GRIHD), a beautiful, green-eyed German girl, a model by profession and an acquaintance of Manuel after the war. Although he is attracted to her, Manuel finds it difficult to overlook the fact that she is German. Like many of her compatriots, she claims to be ignorant of what transpired in the death camps, preferring to live a hedonistic existence in the present.