The Gargoyle Characters

There are two main characters in The Gargoyle. Andrew Davidson creates both of them and explains everything about them in detail while still managing to keep everything mysterious enough to sustain the reader’s curiosity throughout the book.

The Burned Man is the primary male character of the novel. He is described both in the present and the past like being the same person, through the eyes of the character in the leading female role: Marianne Engel. The plot of the Gargoyle tells two stories; one of them is set in the reality of the moment, where the Burned Man meets a sculptress – Marianne, and a memory. The memory is seen from Marianne’s point of view, but to the reader it can be a simple story with no reality to it.

The Burned Man is a former porn star and an atheist. The narrator describes him as having a drug and alcohol abuse problem, which causes him to have a car accident, leading to his burns. Apart from being a sculptress, Marianne Engel is suspected of suffering from Schizophrenia. She comes to the Burned Man’s aid once he is hospitalized and tells him that they have already met and know each other for hundreds of years.

In her memories, Marianne was an orphan left on the steps of a monastery in Germany in the 14th century. She grew up to become a nun as well and had an incredible talent at understanding foreign languages. One day a burned man is brought to the monastery and is saved only due to her. The two form a love connection and run away, leaving the monastery behind.

Another important character in the novel is Brandeis, a friend of the Burned man in Marianne’s memory. They all die in the past and are reincarnated once more in the present where the two lovers meet again and forge a new journey together.