Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Jake Gittes

Jake's the main man—he's the guy who's got to solve the mystery. That's the quest that carries him through the whole movie.

The other main characters—Evelyn Mulwray and Noah Cross—start out knowing a bunch of secrets, but Jake starts out being bamboozled by the woman who poses as Evelyn.

Jake needs access to these secrets and he's going to get them—and when a bad guy slits his nostril open, it only makes him more determined. So, he begins in a state of ignorance, and ends knowing all.

But the ending's glazed with irony, because, even though he's solved the mystery, he remains powerless to prevent evil from happening. When Jake walks away at the end, he may be just as confused as he was at the beginning.