The Mandelbaum Gate: Analysis of Major Characters

Author: Muriel Spark

First published: 1965

Genre: Novel

Locale: Israel and Jordan

Plot: Parody

Time: Summer, 1961

Freddy Hamilton, a career diplomat in his mid-forties who is currently assigned to the British consulate in Jerusalem, Israel. Polite, urbane, a lifelong bachelor, and an envoy of old-fashioned charm and gentility, he has the reserve of the model representative: He straddles the fence, making concessions to both sides, committing himself only to maintaining the status quo. His career of service abroad is itself an evasion. He has never been able to stand up to his manipulative mother, and his routine weekly letters home attempt to cajole her into some semblance of normality. Similarly, he is a popular houseguest because he offends nobody, either by commission or by omission; he even composes thank-you notes in formal verse. He is being typically diplomatic about Barbara's predicament when she suddenly cites what the apocalypse predicts about the lukewarm: that they will be expelled. Perhaps as a result, he appoints himself as her guardian and protector when she gets into real political trouble. Strangely, he does this in a kind of trance; later, he cannot recall everything that happens during this adventure.

Barbara Vaughan, who is nearly thirty years old, a single teacher in an English boarding school. She is in Jerusalem to meet her fiancé, an archaeologist working at Qumram in Jordan. Half English country gentry, half London Jewish, and a convert to Catholicism, she is attempting to escape from her former companion and oldest friend, the headmistress of her school. She is honest, intelligent, unfashionably passionate, and committed to her faith. Her falling in love so late in life had come as a surprise; she had almost reconciled herself to life as an unmarried woman, sharing a home with her friend Ricky. She then met Harry Clegg on vacation the previous summer, andthetwoimmediatelyfellintoanimpassionedaf-fair. Returning to school afterward, she found herself unable to confess herself to Ricky, and the courtship had continued by mail. At term's end, Barbara felt that she had to see Harry, so she evaded Ricky and went to the Holy Land. There, she runs into a snag: Harry is in Jordan, on the other side of the Mandelbaum Gate dividing the city into Israeli and Jordanian sectors. In the current state of tension, the Jordanians are imprisoning all Jews as spies, and she is Jewish by their norms. Despite Freddy's warning, she determines to see the holy places of her faith and to join Harry, even though the church has so far refused to approve their betrothal, on the grounds that a former marriage of his may have been valid.

Yusif (Joe) Ramdez, a sixty-year-old man known as the Agent because he operates a travel agency, a life insurance agency, and a detective agency, as well as trafficking in intelligence, all in Jordan. On one hand, Ramdez is a Middle Eastern tout, the know-it-all guide common in fiction but here raised to a higher power. On the other hand, he represents a real evil, for he thrives on the kinds of misunderstandings endemic in politically tense situations. He profits from the kind of danger into which Barbara has put herself, and his spy ring has penetrated the British consulate.

Abdul Ramdez, Joe's thirty-four-year-old (but appearing younger) son and his representative in Israel. While supposedly giving lessons in Arabic to Freddy, Abdul keeps trying to sell him a life insurance policy and simultaneously pick up any intelligence leads. He resembles his father in being a pathological liar and also in his intelligence. Disillusioned about politics at an early age, he has learned to counterfeit poses as a means of acquiring information; unlike his father, he does not believe in any cause beyond his own profit.

Suzi Ramdez, Joe's thirty-year-old daughter. Like her brother, she is a subagent. Although possessing all the intelligence and craftiness of her father and brother, she is handicapped by the inferior situation into which Arab women are forced by their male-dominant culture. Despite these disadvantages, Suzi manages to acquire independence by seizing the opportunities created in the disorientation of the time and by superseding tradition. Sharing much of the political skepticism of Abdul, she engineers a plan to keep Barbara safe in Jordan, even to the extent of circumventing her father.

Edith (Ricky) Rickward, Barbara's thirty-year-old headmis-tress and oldest friend. Six years of companionship have created a close bond between the two women, but Barbara finds it fairly easy to break away to pursue her relationship with Harry, probably because she subconsciously resents Ricky's manipulative tactics. Ricky is determined, however, to prevent the liaison and follows Barbara to the Holy Land. A consummate intellectual and conventional liberated woman, she acts as if sex did not exist. Having discovered it, Barbara can no longer maintain this pretense.

Michael Aaronson, Barbara's thirty-year-old cousin. She confides in him, working out in conversation with him the position on which she finally acts.

Alexandros, a fifty-year-old Arab Catholic from Lebanon, a dealer in antiquities, curios, and information on the Jordanian side of the city. An honest, responsible businessman in a corrupt city, he assists Freddy in his efforts to protect Barbara. Suzi is his mistress.

Ruth Gardnor, the thirty-year-old wife of one of the members of the British consulate and a Jordanian spy.