Pornografia: Analysis of Major Characters
"Pornografia" is a novel by Polish writer Witold Gombrowicz that explores complex themes of identity, youth, and the human psyche through its major characters. The story is narrated by a passive observer, Witold, who grapples with the interplay between youth and maturity as he immerses himself in the lives of those around him. Key characters include Frederick, a manipulative middle-aged man whose unclear motives drive the narrative, and Hippo, an estate owner embodying the complacency of the Polish gentry during wartime.
The youthful Karol and Henia serve as focal points for the characters' desires and ambitions, representing innocence yet also becoming entangled in darker schemes. Albert, Henia's fiancé, contrasts with Karol, embodying adult values but ultimately succumbing to jealousy and violence. Other significant figures include Lady Amelia, Albert's mother, whose faith is shaken by turmoil, and Olek, a servant whose brutal actions intertwine the fates of the main characters. The novel intricately weaves themes of seduction, morality, and the chaotic nature of human relationships, inviting readers to reflect on the profound implications of age and identity.
Pornografia: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Witold Gombrowicz
First published: 1960 (English translation, 1966)
Genre: Novel
Locale: German-occupied Poland
Plot: Philosophical realism
Time: During World War II
Witold Gombrowicz (gom-BROH-vihch), a Polish writer. Although he shares the author's name and vocation, it is impossible to identify the actual Gombrowicz with the novel's passive and overly cerebral narrator. Walking proof that one's identity is determined by others and that an observer always affects the situation observed, Witold mentally orchestrates the world in accordance with his ideas, calling into question the reality of the novel's events and of the characters' motivations. Given to seeing things in terms of opposites, particularly youth and maturity, he continually ponders the mystery of the mutual seduction and wounding of these antithetical life stages. As the novel opens, Witold, eager to escape Warsaw's art circles (as insipid as ever, despite the war), visits Hippo's estate with Frederick. There, he is captivated by the youthful Karol and Henia, but while his friend contrives to bring the two together, he looks on passively, disturbed by the theatricality of events and doubting Frederick's sanity. In the end, however, he succumbs to the “sin” against the couple, believing it maturity's only access to youth and rejuvenation.
Frederick, Witold's companion and coconspirator. A middle-aged man, dark and thin, with a hooked nose, this murderous lunatic seems at first merely a parody of the intellectual; he is hyperrational and unnervingly lucid but self-consciously artificial in everything. Exciting Witold by the way he continually brings Karol and Henia together, his motives are never completely clear, even after he writes the narrator insane letters expounding his plan to undermine both religion and nature in the belief that his obscene and deadly plotting, if successful, will justify itself.
Hippolytus (Hippo) S., an estate owner. A bloated man with a pig's eyes and the habit of repeating himself, Hippo is an example of the self-satisfied and purblind Polish gentry. Never questioning his duty, he makes his estate available to the Resistance but prefers the life of the jovial squire.
Karol, a local administrator's son. An ordinary blond sixteen-year-old boy, white teeth flashing with adolescent purity and naturalness, he is seen as divine because youth, though thoughtless and unformed, transforms the crudest and cruelest actions into acts of grace (in older eyes). Dismissed from the Resistance for some silliness before the novel begins, he is staying with Hippo because he cannot get along with his father. A childhood friend of Henia, he claims to have no romantic interest in her, but Witold senses, or projects, a passionate connection immediately. Seduced by the plotter's attentions, Karol willingly asserts his youth in their romantic and murderous schemes.
Henia, Hippo's daughter and Albert's fiancé. An ordinary young girl, she is not quite as innocent as she first appears, having slept with a Resistance fighter. In love with Albert and his adult values, she still shares a youthful sensibility with Karol that Witold and Frederick use to implicate her in their plots.
Albert Paszkowski (pahsh-KOF-skee), Henia's fiancé. Aristocratic in the best and worst senses, Albert is refined physically and spiritually to the point of nausea, in contrast to Karol's youthfulness. A handsome, well-educated lawyer and scion of a landed family, Albert is the epitome of adult values and virtues, which prove to be no match for the enticing imperfections of immaturity. Falling prey to the plotter's machinations, he lets his jealousy undermine his maturity and self-respect, which he regains at the end only through murder and useless surrender to death.
Lady Amelia, Albert's widowed mother. This elderly and saintly woman's faith calms Witold's fevered imaginings enough for normality to reassert itself momentarily. Unbalanced by Frederick's extreme rationalism, however, she loses self-control and becomes embroiled in an erotic and fatal fight with a servant. Rejecting the absolute in favor of nature, the third thing between reason and religion, she dies with her eyes on Frederick.
Olek Skuziak (SHEW-zhahk), a servant and Lady Amelia's murderer. A dirty, rustic youth with gold hair, black eyes, and white teeth, he is a crude double of Karol. Introducing a savage element into the story, his presence and bloody deed inspire the plotters to unite the fates of the other characters in a murderous conclusion.
Siemian (SHEE-mee-ahn), a Resistance leader. Elegant and charming, he comes to stay at Hippo's estate, where he suddenly loses his nerve. Realizing that this makes him a liability that must be eliminated, he begs the unmoved Witold to help him escape. The plans to do away with him culminate in a double murder intertwining the strands of death and eros that characterize the plotters' lustful fascination with youth.