CHARACTERS

 

 

 

The characters who live in the village are fifteen but in the text doesn´t appear all of them.

 

Melchior à he has twelve years old and as Agatha (one of the women of the village) said “is a lost cause”. He also believes that he will never be a good man,”he is a hoodlum”. Melchior hasn´t dialogue at any time in the text, the characters simply mention his name.

Mike Benedetti has another hypertext with the title of Melchior and Melchior in this tale is also a young boy who decides to take revenge of the king because he has killed his entire family, but this story has nothing to do with The Monkeys.

 

William à is a child of the village that has one year old. We could say that is the main character of the story because the action revolves around him. Is the child that the women chose to act like a monkey in the palace of the king during a whole day. He speaks like an adult and if it was not because the author tells us his age we can perfectly think that he is an adult person.
His attitude and his way of speaking are cold, something unusual in a small child. He is impulsive. He kills the king and has no remorse for it, and after that defies the king's soldiers with provocative manners, as if he were a killing machine.

 

Agatha à one of the women of the village. In the meeting at which they decide which of the two boys (William or Melchior) must be submit to the king, Agatha said arguments against Melchior and supports William because in her opinion Melchior  “is a hoodlum and a lost cause”

 

Agnes à other of the women of the village. Contradicts  Agatha and supports Melchior because she thinks that, being older,  Melchior is more likely to survive than William.

 

Alberta à spoke only once, interested in the opinion of Adriatica. Accused Abbatreia of knowing the martial arts.

 

Adriatica à is the woman who proposed the end of the demandation of the king and his assasination, training one of the two children in martial arts and sending him to the king. She seems the smartest of all the women, and it shows that she has influence over  the rest because they, inmediately, accept her plan.  She worries about the fate of the village and think that, basically,  they don´t  have to decide the fate of the youth.

 

Abatreia à is the only one that does not seem agree with the plan of Adriatica and rejects it with hysteria. He knows martial arts but when the rest of the women accused her to know these arts denies it and remains silent, sitting on the floor, while the other developed the plan. With this attitude, we can see that Abbatreia has a  weak and coward character and is not very good defending herself  when is talking face to face with others.

 

The king à The king of this story is not a king like in the usual stories. In usual tales kings may be different : noble king´s, good king´s, wise and courageous or tyrants and evils.
Generally the way in that they acts is often based on a rational reason, in a plan drawn up, and although they committ follies, this tend to have a justification.
In the stories of Mike Benedetti there is no justification, acts are irrational or impulsive.
The king of this story has a curious obsession and demands every year that a child from each village acts like a monkey in front of him.

His entertainment consists in stupid and encourages William to behave badly. He finally dies drowned at the hands of William. He is not a good example of how it should be a king and in the history we can see that his subjects did not have much appreciation to him.

 

 

 

RETURN TO SECOND PAPER

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 Plot

 Characters

Internal Space

 External Space        

 Conclusion        

 

 

 

Academic year 2008/2009
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
©Marta Soler Gamero /marsoga@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de València Press