Character Sketch Of The Narrator In "Was It A Dream?" By Guy De Maupassant

Character Sketch of the Narrator in "Was it a Dream?" By Guy de Maupassant

In the first paragraph alone, many important aspects of the narrator's character are revealed. It is revealed to the reader that the narrator was in love and is grieving for the woman he loved. It is also in the first paragraph where the major conflict is revealed. The major conflict, in which the narrator is involved, is his own torment from the memory of his dead wife. This is evident when the narrator says, "When I saw our room again, our bed, our furniture, everything that remains of the life of a human being after death - I was seized by such a violent attack of fresh grief that I felt like opening the window and throwing myself onto the street." Initially, the author intends the reader to feel sorry for the narrator and his loss. The thing that motivates the narrator in the conflict is his resolution to finish grieving before it consumes him. This is evident when he says, "Happy is the man whose heart forgets everything that it has contained."

The narrator loved his beloved 'madly'. His love for her was so great that anything that reminded him of her brought him to grieve again. In life, she did not love him the same.

Much of the narrator's personality is revealed in the cemetery. The reader learns that he knew the truth about her, but that after she died, he only thought good things about her. He did not reflect on the horrible things he knew she did to him, but rather on the strong love he felt for her. This shows us how great his love for her was and how he could forgive and forget the things she did to him. This also shows that he wished that they could have been together longer and that he still loved her, even after what she did to him. Since the reader learns that he knew about his wife, but did not confront her while she was alive, shows us that he was in denial because his love for her was so strong. The 'ghosts' that the narrator sees in the cemetery are actually the facets of his mind in conflict with