Snooty Baronet: Analysis of Major Characters
"Snooty Baronet: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the intricate lives of the primary figures in a narrative centered around Sir Michael Kell-Imrie, known as Snooty. As the narrator and a nearly forty-year-old impoverished baronet, he grapples with the aftermath of World War I, including physical and mental scars, while navigating his relationships and ambitions. His literary pursuits and peculiar adventures, such as a controversial kidnapping scheme concocted by his agent Captain Humphrey Cooper Carter, reveal complexities in both his character and his social interactions.
Supporting characters include Valerie Ritter, Snooty's first girlfriend, whose heated yet tumultuous connection with him reveals themes of desire and abandonment, as well as Lily Tayle, who remains largely unaware of Snooty's aristocratic background. The narrative also introduces Rob McPhail, a poet and friend whose tragic end underscores the themes of loss and mortality.
Additionally, figures like the Persian bandit Mirza Aga and various muleteers illustrate the cultural and moral tensions present in the storyline. The characters embody a range of human experiences, from ambition and desire to betrayal and survival, making the analysis a compelling study of social dynamics and personal conflict within the framework of a richly woven plot.
Snooty Baronet: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Wyndham Lewis
First published: 1932
Genre: Novel
Locale: New York, London, Provence, and Persia
Plot: Social satire
Time: c. 1930
Sir Michael Kell-Imrie (known as Snooty or Snoots), the author-narrator, who is almost forty years old. Although he is poor, he is the seventeenth Baronet of his Scottish family. He was wounded five times during World War I. His artificial leg is removed by his mistress before they have sex; afterward, he suffers illness resulting from head wounds. A writer of scientific books about behaviorism, he is celebrated most for his fictional skills. He developed his interest in animals after catching a huge fish and reading Moby Dick. Persuaded to pretend to be captured by a Persian bandit while researching Mithra religious cults, he reads D. H. Lawrence's work on animal worship. Although he despises Persia, he cooperates with Humph, allowing Val to pay his passage and accompany him; finally, he shoots Humph to death for pleasure, abandons Val to smallpox, and finds solace in the arms of a Persian harem girl on the Bosphorus.
Captain Humphrey (Humph) Cooper Carter, Snooty's literary agent in London. He has a big head, a large chin, and short legs. He met Snooty in the Scots Guards during World War I. He held a desk job for most of the war, while Snooty was in the trenches. He concocts the scheme for Snooty to be kidnapped by a Persian bandit to extract ransom money and attract publicity. He is shot and killed by Snooty during the rendezvous with Mirza Aga's bandits.
Mrs. Valerie (Val) Ritter, Snooty's first girlfriend, whom he visits in Chelsea as soon as he returns to London from America. She is between thirty and forty years old and already has a double chin, thinning hair, and pocked skin. She has the annoying habit of giggling constantly, but she knows how to please Snooty in bed. She writes pornographic novels that are never published, and she pays for Snooty's passage to Persia so that she can accompany him and Humph. Although she dislikes Humph, she is appalled when she sees Snooty shoot him, and she tries unsuccessfully to blackmail Snooty into marrying her. When she contracts smallpox while a guest of Mirza Aga, she is abandoned by Snooty. She recovers and sends him a telegram of indignation.
Lily Tayle, Snooty's second girlfriend. She works at a tobacco kiosk at Victoria Station, London. She is two months past her twenty-fourth birthday. She does not know that Snooty is a Baronet until she reads it in the gossip columns of newspapers while he is in America. She writes him letters while he is in Persia.
Rob McPhail, a poet and a close friend of Snooty. He has lived for four years with his wife and children on the French coast near Marseilles, at Faujas de Saint Riom, where he fishes and sometimes fights bulls. He was born in China, where his father was employed by the Chinese government. A tall man dressed in white, he drinks heavily. After he tells Snooty that he will go to Persia with him, Rob is killed by a bull during the prefight sticking ceremony.
Pat Bostock, a source of information about Persia. He causes Humph to think of the kidnapping caper.
Mirza Aga, the Persian bandit contracted to kidnap Snooty for ransom. He speaks perfect English with a Chicago accent. When he discovers that Snooty shot Humph, he thinks it was done so that Snooty would not have to share the ransom. He orders his men to kill all the muleteers and guides who accompanied Snooty, Humph, and Val. Acting as host to Snooty and Val, he waits in vain for the ransom but escorts Snooty back to civilization, while Val lingers with smallpox.
Ali Akbar, the leader of the Persian muleteers who carry Snooty, Humph, and Val to the point of the kidnapping. He is impressed with Snooty's skill with a rifle and is indignant when he sees Snooty shoot Humph. He and his men are slaughtered by Mirza Aga's bandits.
Mortimer, who pays rent for Val's Chelsea rooms.
Mr. Willis, a forty-one-year-old tobacconist whom Lily introduces to Snooty as her uncle.
Vieuxchange (vyew-CHAHNZH), Rob McPhail's brother-in-law and fishing partner. He is a big, leonine former marine who leaps with Rob into the bullfighting arena to stick the bulls.
Laura McPhail, Rob's wife. She has black-violet eyes and talks to Snooty of her Communist brother in Leningrad.
Juanito, the Spanish manager/owner of the bullfight at Faujas de Saint Riom. He dresses as Charlie Chaplin for prefight entertainment.
Shushani (shew-SHAH-nee), Snooty's Persian harem girl, who helps him hide from Humph and stays with him at the Bosphorus.
Kafi, a Persian harem girl. Her name means “enough.”
Hasan, a Persian muleteer who sneezes at Humph to frighten him.