The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Analysis of Major Characters
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse features a collection of compelling characters set against the backdrop of war, love, and loss. The narrative follows Julio Madariaga, a rugged immigrant who transforms barren land into a prosperous ranch, leaving behind a legacy marked by both wealth and illegitimate offspring. His granddaughter, Chichi, embodies resilience and growth amidst familial challenges, while Julio Desnoyers, the privileged son of a millionaire, grapples with love and duty as he faces the realities of war. Desnoyers’ love interest, Marguerite Laurier, struggles between her affections for two men and ultimately chooses duty over romance. Other characters, such as Argensola, serve as confidants and intellectual guides, adding depth to the main arcs. Don Marcelo Desnoyers provides a patriarchal viewpoint, reflecting on the impacts of war and personal loss, while Karl and Elena Hartrott introduce themes of betrayal and ideological conflict. Overall, the characters navigate complex relationships and societal changes, revealing the human experience during tumultuous times.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
First published: Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis, 1916 (English translation, 1918)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Argentina, Paris, and the front lines of World War I
Plot: Historical
Time: Early 1900's
Julio Madariaga (HEW-lee-oh Mah-doh-ree-AH-gah), a tough, virile Spaniard who immigrates to Argentina. Madariaga makes a fortune buying land no one wants and converting it into fine ranch land, stocked with cattle bred from a prize-winning bull that is now stuffed and placed at the entrance to his parlor. Madariaga kills or tames the Indians, seduces the local women, and leaves progeny wherever he roams. Despite the large numbers of illegitimate offspring left on his doorstep, the death of his only legitimate heir leaves him inconsolate. His granddaughter, Chichi, however, roams the range with him. Madariaga dies in the saddle and leaves his heirs a fortune.
Julio Desnoyers (HEW-lee-oh day-noh-YAY), the spoiled, handsome son of millionaire Marcelo Desnoyers. He is a hot-footed tango dancer and the heartthrob of numerous Parisian ladies. Julio becomes enamored of Marguerite Laurier, but when the war makes her husband a hero, his war injuries recall her to her first love and duty. Heartbroken and angered by Parisian comments about his avoidance of war duties and by the end of his clandestine affair, Julio joins the French army and serves heroically, winning the respect of comrades and the praise of superiors. He rises in the ranks for his bravery in the trenches but is killed shortly before the war's end.
Marguerite Laurier (mahr-geh-REET loh-RYAY), the beautiful, adulterous lover of Julio Desnoyers, whose not-so-secret trysts with him begin on the dance floor and end in his Montmartre study. Discovery by Marguerite's husband, Etienne Laurier, lead to marriage plans. Her husband's uniform and heroism, however, make her embarrassed by her lover's failure to join the war effort. She takes nurses' training and then, after learning of her husband's possible blindness, decides that duty and self-sacrifice are wartime necessities. When Julio finally tracks her down, she confesses that she loves both men, though in different ways; she chooses the man who needs her most. When Julio comes home from the front, handsome in his uniform and medals, she, though pregnant, looks at him longingly before fleeing temptation.
Argensola (ahr-gehn-SOH-lah), Julio's manservant and confidant, who reads widely all the books about which Julio, as a man of the world, has to be conversant. He provides compact summaries of their contents for his master's edification. He keeps Julio's cupboard full by raiding the family larder and wine cellar; introduces Julio and his father to the Russian political philosopher Tchernoff, whose analysis of current events and world movements impresses them both; and, while Julio is at war, employs Julio's studio for his own affairs.
Don Marcelo Desnoyers (mahr-SAY-loh), the husband of Luisa Madariaga, the overseer and heir of Madariaga's ranch, and the millionaire father of Julio and Lusita. Most of the story is from the perspective of Marcelo, first as he experiences the splendor of Argentina, with its multicultural population and its potential for growth and development; then as a Frenchman returning to his motherland and savoring the sights and sounds of Paris; next as a father concerned for the welfare of his son and daughter; then as a patriot, outraged by the barbarisms of the Germans and proud of the French stand against them. As a landowner and victim, Desnoyers observes the French retreat, the German advance, and the French resurgence at the Battle of the Marne. He is shocked at the sadism and perversions of German officers. Later, he witnesses the nightmare of trench warfare as he searches proudly for his heroic son, only to learn of his death shortly after their encounter. As an old man, he realizes the futility of his wealth and, through his personal loss, the depth of his nation's suffering. He finds meager hope in the possibility of grandchildren, though ones who would not bear his family name.
Lusita “Chichi” Desnoyers Lacour (lew-SEE-tah “CHEE-chee” day-noh-YAY lah-KEWR), the darling of her grandfather. Chichi is a wild, free-spirited youth who grows into a purposeful, determined young woman, in love with the son of Senator Lacour. Although he is scarred, maimed, and without a hand, she firmly undertakes his nursing and acts on survivalist instincts to counter death by bearing children to make a new future.
Karl Hartrott, a timid, servile sneak, of dubious origin, taken into Madariaga's household under protest. Hartrott betrays Julio Madariaga's hospitality by absconding with his daughter and then returning with their children to beg support. Inheriting wealth exposes him as a pretentious, arrogant social climber, fawning over aristocracy and enamored of German theories of racial superiority and the right to conquest.
Elena Hartrott, a wholehearted supporter of German culture, philosophy, and will to power, trapped by the war in Paris. Her loss of several sons in the same battle in which Julio dies evokes some sympathy, but overall she is irritating.