Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Walter Moody

Although nailing down a single protagonist is kind of a tough proposition in this novel, given that it (seemingly, but not literally) has a cast of thousands, Moody definitely gets this honor. Why? Well, first of all, it's his journey to Hokitika and personal story that lead us right into the book's central plot. As Moody himself says, if he hadn't told his own story to the men in the Crown smoking room, they wouldn't have felt inclined to tell their own…and without that, there would be no book. Also, after all those stories are out in the open, everyone looks to him to help untangle everything they've just said. Oh, and as Anna and Emery's defense attorney, he definitely seems to have been instrumental in coming up with the cover story that they—and all the other characters—tell at the trial. So, in short, he's both central to the plot and a driver of it.