Character Clues

Character Analysis

Thoughts and Opinions

Sig's parents have a lot of different opinions in Revolver. Nadya thinks, "'My children must not know evil things. They must learn to trust in the love and the care of God'" (12.16)—but Einar has different ideas, saying about the gun, "'The boy must learn respect for it while he's young'" (12.15). We get the sense that these two have opposite ideas about most stuff like this—which is kinda the point.

We're told a lot about Einar and Nadya's views so we don't get too much bias on either side. Just like Sig has to decide what he believes about big issues like religion and gun control, we learn a great deal about the characters through their opinions and thoughts. It helps us get to know them better and, in doing so, understand the strengths and weaknesses of the ideological positions they take.

Physical Appearances

Beauty might only be skin deep, but it sure means a lot in this book. Don't believe us? Check out what Sig thinks when he first sees Wolff:

His features were coarse, his eyes far apart, his nose broad, his mouth hidden by a rough beard of ginger and white. His head, when he removed his fur hat, was shaven to his scalp. His skull was a disturbing shape, flat at the back, his ears too small. It was not a face stroked into creation by God's loving hand, but battered into shape by the Devil's hammer. (6.10)

And just like that, Wolff gives us the creeps. Like it or not, how someone looks tells us a lot about what's on the inside in this book. While we might want to believe everyone—no matter how they look—can be kind and trustworthy, in this book, that's simply not the case. Physical appearances tell us whether we can trust a person of not, so compassionate Anna is beautiful, whereas evil Wolff looks like a bear. In other words, in Revolver, what you see is what you get.