Character Analysis
Goofy Gus
Unconventional, humorous, insulting, magical, ninja-y—this guy, Socrates or Soc for short, is really the heart of the book. Sure, Dan is the most important character in that he's the one who grows and changes and gives us all that development stuff we expect from a novel, but what everyone really remembers about Way of the Peaceful Warrior is Socrates.
And Socrates' characterization is all about dialogue. His philosophy, his personality—it's all expressed in his speech. It's hard to describe just how zany, or profound, or both at the same time, Socrates' way of talking is, so we decided to let him do it for himself with a few examples:
“My name's Dan,” I said, reaching out to shake his hand, smiling insincerely. “What's yours?”
He placed a screwdriver in my outstretched hand. “My name doesn't matter; neither does yours. What is important is what lies beyond names and beyond questions. Now, you will need this screwdriver to take apart that carburetor,” he pointed. (P.52-53)
And this gem:
“How can you think this is funny!” I chided him. “We're getting soaked, there's no bus for an hour, and the food's ruined.” [...]
“I'm not laughing at the rain,” Soc said, “I'm laughing at you.” He roared and rolled in the wet leaves. [...]
Socrates started jumping up and down, mimicking my earlier behavior. “Damn rain!” he yelled. “There goes our picnic!” He stomped back and forth, then stopped in mid-stomp and winked at me, grinning mischievously. (2.64-74)
And how could we forget this nugget o' wisdom:
“Socrates! You're alive.”
“I see that your powers of observation are at their usual razor-sharp keenness,” he said weakly. He tried to stand, but he was very shaky and his chest hurt, so I lifted him on my shoulders [...] and began carrying him up toward the end of the trails [...] the night watchman could call an ambulance.
He rested quietly on my shoulders most of the way as I fought fatigue [...] Now and then he would say, “The only way to travel—let's do this more often”—or “Giddyup.” (7.20-22)
So we have here a person who isn't afraid to insult or even to die, and who utters mysteriously profound things right and left. There's something weirdly addictive about waiting to see what will come out of his mouth next.
All in all, he's the ultimate example of a peaceful warrior. He's totally transcended his mind, as Dan notices (4.59). So he has no need to change; he remains the rock around which everything else in the book rotates.
Enter The Ninja
He's also the voice of authority. This novel is obviously very didactic—it has a message it wants you to accept—and the teacher is Socrates. His every word is meant to be understood by the reader as absolute truth. We can tell Socrates believes this about himself, and so his complete confidence gives him quite a lot of charisma. Readers may find that charisma either convincing or creepy, depending on their reaction to his philosophy.
Soc's philosophy is to do away with your mind and instead learn the difficult discipline of maintaining, basically, a "Don't Worry Be Happy"attitude. If you want to check out his teachings, see Theme 1: Happiness, Theme 2: Life, Consciousness and Existence, Theme 3: Mortality, and Theme 4: Dreams, Hopes, and Plans. (Yeah, this guy is behind a lot of the themes.)
Where did all this philosophy of Socrates' come from, though? He won't tell Dan (or us) about his past (5.123-126), although he finally gives Dan a journal with the answers (8.102)—we just don't get to read it in this novel. From his speech in the prologue about the history of ancient ninjas, it seems Socrates has some sort of mysterious ninja background. That would make sense of his fighting and jumping abilities, which occasionally we get to see. He also has the magic ability to give Dan visions, too, which speeds up his (and our) understanding of his philosophy.
He even forms the last image of the novel—see our What's Up With the Ending? section for more.
Timeline