Towards the beginning of the novel, the audience is introduced to a very interesting character named Charlie Vance, who has a good deal of money and owns a seemingly fabulous estate. His nickname in the book is "'Adonis', as he was called by his familiars" (17). Upon noticing such an odd name as a nickname, I looked up what Greek God Adonis was in order to gain a better understanding of the character. It is an intentional move by Hopkins to give him this name and must tell the audience something about his personality. Adonis is the Greek god of beauty and desire. On Wikipedia it states, " He has had multiple roles, and there has been much scholarship over the centuries concerning his meaning and purpose in Greek religious beliefs. He is an annually-renewed, ever-youthful vegetation god, a life-death-rebirth deity whose nature is tied to the calendar. His name is often applied in modern times to handsome youths, of whom he is the archetype. Adonis is often referred to as the mortal god of Beauty". That being cleared up, we can assume that Charlie Vance/'Adonis' is a charming man, who is both handsome and desirable. His beauty in modern times is interesting because he is very charming and smooth in the way that he acts, he doesn't seem to worry about money, goes on the trip to Africa for fun, and is fairly laid back. In one section of the book we see him joking around with his friends, exuding his relaxed and appealing characteristics, "'Don't be surprised if Briggs acts strangely,' continued Charlie. 'It is in order for him to whoop it up in the spirit line'" (48). Here Charlie/Adonis is poking fun at this friend Reuel's inability to loosen up and have some fun. Adonis/ Charlie also finds many women worthy, "Charlie Vance was generally 'struck' once a month with the 'loveliest girl, by jove, you know'" (13). In short, his nickname fits him because he is an attractive man, who is young, ready to enjoy himself and is a desirable bachelor.
Reuel has a love interest, her name is Dianthe and her name also has Greek origins. On a website describing the origin and meaning of names, I learned that Dianthe means, "Flower of the Gods". In general terms, flowers are delicate and attractive and dependent. If we use the idea of what a flower is and compare it to Dianthe being named after a flower, we can see that she actually greatly resembles a flower. She is both beautiful, attractive and commands the room. When she plays in the concert in Chapter two of the book, we find that she is exceedingly beautiful, "She was not in any way the preconceived idea of a Negro. Fair as the fairest woman in the hall, with wavy bands of chestnut hair, and great, melting eyes of brown, soft as those of childhood; a willowy figure of exquisite mould" (14). Her beauty and talent is described at length. She is delicate in the sense that, after her accident, Reuel revives her and she is has a delicate mind and memory, she can hardly move and walk, and then she is impaired with memory loss, thus causing her psyche to be delicate and confused. She is dependent on others to keep her financially stable, help her live, and give her the answers to her past. Dianthe is even described as "a child- so trusting that it went straight to the young man's heart" (54). Dianthe is a perfect of her Greek name as well.The names are obviously significant to personality and character in Hopkins' novel.
Questions:
1. Are there any other characters in the novel that have Greek Mythology based names? If so, how do their characteristics compare to the name they are given?
2. Do you think that the characters would mean as much if they weren't named after gods? What significance do their names play in the book as a whole?
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