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Character Role Analysis

Nostromo/Doctor Monygham

From early on in the novel, we know that Nostromo is strong, able-bodied, and highly respected/trusted. Doctor Monygham really is just about the polar opposite. As a result of injuries he sustained under torture, he walks with a limp and with a stooped posture—so, he's not as physically able-bodied as Nostromo, certainly. Then there's the fact that he's almost universally disliked and/or mistrusted, whereas Nostromo is everyone else's go-to guy.

The irony, of course, is that the good doctor probably ends up showing more integrity than Nostromo, quietly working to help out Mrs. Gould without expecting any thanks or glory. Nostromo, by contrast, gets eaten alive by greed and vanity. What's that adage about appearances and deception, again?