Gargoyles (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Thomas Bernhard
- First Published: 1967
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: After World War I
- Setting: The Austrian Alps
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Parents and children, Philosophy or philosophers, Alienation, Doctors, 1920’s, Mental illness, Cancer, Fathers, Death or dying, Sick persons, Austria or Austrians, Alps, Isolation
- Locales: Austria, Alps
Characters Discussed
The narrator, a student home for the weekend. The narrator is surrounded by derangement (the meaning of the original German title) and death both at school, where the students suffer fits of suicidal melancholy, and at home, where his mother died an early and inexplicable death some time before and his sister frequently attempts suicide. His life is one of almost total estrangement and solitude, again both at school, where he has severed all relations with colleagues so as to progress with his scientific studies, and at home, where there is little if any...
[The entire page is 1081 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
