Character Analysis
Street Urchin
Parsefall Hooke is Grisini's other apprentice, but he appears to have the exact opposite of Lizzie Rose's kind, compassionate temperament. Because he's grown up in poverty his entire life and has not been treated with much kindness, Parsefall has become a street-smart and opportunistic boy. He takes any chance he can to cheat and steal from people, which makes sense because otherwise he'd go hungry:
The chirping, purring sounds in their voices seemed to indicate they were becoming friends, but Parsefall paid no attention to their words. He was searching the room for something to steal.
What should he take? The room was stocked with valuables, many of them small enough to be portable. (3.62-63)
Parsefall seems mean and nasty—especially to someone like Lizzie Rose, who tries to be nice to him all the time. But, he's not lashing out and being unaffectionate because he hates her. He has a hard time getting close to people and loving them because he has dealt with so much pain and hardship in his young life. He's had his finger taken off by Grisini and had to watch his sister die when he was just a little boy. That's why he doesn't want to call Lizzie Rose his sister—he feels like it's a betrayal to his real sister. In other words, it's nothing against Lizzie Rose.
It takes Parsefall some time, but in the end, he realizes that there are some people he can depend on in his life, like Lizzie Rose and Clara. He doesn't have to put up his emotional walls all the time and can trust some people without having to worry about getting hurt or being betrayed. In the end, he even looks forward to going home and hanging out with Clara and Lizzie Rose:
There was going to be roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for dinner, and afterward the grown-ups would go off with their newspapers and embroidery. He saw Clara bow her head to hide a smile, and he turned back to wink at Lizzie Rose. They were waiting, all three of them, for the moment when they could be alone again and free to laugh together. (E.21)
He accepts them as his new siblings and loves them completely.
Master Puppeteer
Even though Parsefall is a poor little street urchin who cannot read or write, he has considerable talents and smarts. He's a natural when it comes to working with puppets, and he works hard at refining the shows and learning the craft. He's always rehearsing and thinking about what would make the shows better, and he is completely engrossed in his work:
He was skillful with the puppets and practiced ferociously, almost as if he were trying to get back at someone who had wronged him. Sometimes Lizzie Rose came upon him working the puppets with his legs crossed and a look of anguish on his face; he was so caught up with his work that he had forgotten to empty his bladder. (2.8)
Parsefall's greatest dream in life is to work for the Royal Marionettes, but he fears that won't be possible because of his station in life. However, Clara recognizes this desire in him, and at the end, she asks her parents to take in Parsefall and set him up with an apprenticeship at the Royal Marionettes. They agree happily, and Parsefall gets to live out his greatest dream after all.