Central Characters
- Joseph Knecht: The central character of the book. The Magister Ludi for most of the book.
- The Music Master: Knecht's spiritual mentor who, when Knecht is a child, examines him for entrance into the elite schools of Castalia.
- Plinio Designori: Knecht's foil in the world outside.
- Father Jacobus: Knecht's antithesis in faith.
- Elder Brother: A former Castalian and student of Chinese.
- Thomas van der Trave: Joseph Knecht's predecessor as Magister Ludi.
- Fritz Tegularius: A friend of Knecht's but a portent of what Castalians might become if they remain insular.
Read more about this topic: The Glass Bead Game
Famous quotes containing the words central and/or characters:
“In a large university, there are as many deans and executive heads as there are schools and departments. Their relations to one another are intricate and periodic; in fact, galaxy is too loose a term: it is a planetarium of deans with the President of the University as a central sun. One can see eclipses, inner systems, and oppositions.”
—Jacques Barzun (b. 1907)
“Of all the characters I have known, perhaps Walden wears best, and best preserves its purity. Many men have been likened to it, but few deserve that honor. Though the woodchoppers have laid bare first this shore and then that, and the Irish have built their sties by it, and the railroad has infringed on its border, and the ice-men have skimmed it once, it is itself unchanged, the same water which my youthful eyes fell on; all the change is in me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)