The Conformist (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Alberto Moravia
- First Published: 1951
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: 1920-1945
- Setting: Rome, Italy, and Paris, France
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: Politics, Homosexuality or homosexuals, Sex or sexuality, Paris, Lesbianism or lesbians, Assassination, Cruelty, Espionage or spies, Fascism, Rome
- Locales: Paris, France, Rome, Italy
Characters Discussed
Marcello Clerici (mahr-CHEHL- loh klehr-EE-chee), the protagonist, a man dominated by psychological tendencies that are reflected in the title of the novel. Since childhood, Marcello has desired to be recognized as being normal. As a young boy, he had several haunting experiences with guilt (the presumed consequence of social abnormality); these follow him into adulthood. One involved pleasure in killing small animals, then trying to convince himself, through others, that his actions were not abnormal. A second event was his traumatic violent experience...
[The entire page is 894 words long]
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