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The Clown (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)

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Hans Schnier (shneer), a professional clown. All events in this first-person novel are seen through the eyes of Hans, the twenty-seven-year-old son of a wealthy industrialist. He is not, however, the typical son of a rich businessman. As a youth, he showed little aptitude for school, and he has never had any interest in business. Instead, Hans has the character traits and temperament of an artist: He is spontaneous, impulsive, creative, naïve, and innocent, and he cannot feign feelings that he does not possess. Nor can he, as someone once urged him, “be...

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