Character Analysis
The Girl with the Mexico Birthmark
Seriously, did you look at it? When Gustave says that she has an "enormous birthmark the shape of Mexico over half her face," we think he's just being cleverly descriptive, if a bit rude. However, upon closer inspection, we see that her birthmark is, very literally, in the exact shape of Mexico. Why, we don't know. Wes Anderson, do you have any answers for us?
Agatha is much more than a backdrop for a map-birthmark: "she was also very brave." At first we see her merely as a pastry chef. Zero's impressed by her skill "with a palette knife and a butter-cream flourish," and charmed by the fact that she's always covered in flour from her endless hours in Mendl's. We can see that she's very much like Zero: She's alone in the world and stuck working her way up from what is essentially indentured servitude.
We soon find out, though, that like Zero, Agatha is willing to do some courageous things for her fiancé and her friend. She bakes prison-break tools into her Mendl's treats and sends them to Gustave in prison; she goes into the hotel to retrieve Boy with Apple and flees from the menacing Dmitri; she ultimately discovers the hidden second will.
Gustave remarks on her purity, and we can't help but sense that, despite all of the nonsense our protagonists pull her into, she does retain this innate goodness all the while.
An Absence of Agatha
At first, it can be easy to criticize Agatha as a character. We really don't see a whole lot of her, other than a) a short sequence of dates with Zero, b) a vetting by Gustave, c) a scene of her making some Mendl's treats, d) during the finale in the Hotel, and e) marriage. That's basically it for her.
It's easy to get outraged at this. Why is she so underwritten? If Mustafa's sole reason for keeping the old and unprofitable hotel is for Agatha, not Gustave, than we could have had a few more scenes with Agatha, right?
However, before we draw any unwarranted conclusions about the sexism of The Grand Budapest, let's think of Mustafa's narration of his own story. When Agatha first enters the scene, Mustafa doesn't have much to say about her other than, "this was also when I met Agatha, but we won't discuss that." Hmm, interesting.
We sense a sadness behind his voice as we watch Agatha take her Mendl's boxes upon her back and ride her bike down a cold Zubrowkan street, but we're soon distracted by the death of Madame D. and the wild ride that ensues.
However, Agatha is a key player in the story and Mustafa must return to her. When he does, we briefly pull out of the narrative and find him with silent tears streaming down his cheeks. Now we know beyond a doubt that thoughts of Agatha invoke a deep sadness in him, and we can only assume her story has a tragic end.
In a subtle foreshadowing, Mustafa describes the gift Gustave gives Agatha as, "five dozen individually tissue-wrapped white tulips in a box the size of a child's coffin." This morbid analogy, we learn, is brought on by Mustafa's memory of Agatha's death, and the death of their infant son.
Mustafa simply doesn't want to talk too much about Agatha. It's too painful, and he doesn't want his memory of Agatha to be warped by the Author. The older Zero intentionally withholds details about Agatha's life, which means that the audience of The Grand Budapest is left with a surprisingly Agatha-light narrative.