Elinor Mompellion Character Activity

Character Activity
In order to succeed in this Area of Study, you need to understand the characters and how Brooks has constructed them. Use the attached sheets to assist you.

Your task...

For each of the main characters:

• Write a brief description of the character including their role in the novel and relationship to other characters (include relevant quotes or references)

• List character traits and provide evidence to support each one

Main Characters

Anna Frith
Michael Mompellion
Elinor Mompellion
Josiah (Joss) Bont
Aphra Bont
Elizabeth Bradford
Colonel Bradford
Anys Gowdie

Other Characters

For each of these characters, write a brief description of their roles in the novel and their relationships:
Despite Anna’s anger towards Aphra for taking advantage of the villagers in their weakest moments, she sees within her another victim wasted and ruined by the plague.

Josiah and Aphra
The bond between the Bonts is cemented by lust, gluttony and a kind of twinship in their cunning nature which the reader comes to abhor. They represent the very worst in human nature in a time of crisis; that of greed, opportunism, exploitation and the cut-throat human instinct of placing the rights of the individual above that of the community.

Anna and her husband, Sam Frith, and children.
Anna’s “olive shoots”, Tom and Jamie, are her “miracles” and their deaths and her subsequent grief places her firmly in the sympathy of the reader. Her “gentle Sam” treasured her in a way she hadn’t known before and their lives together were a time of peace and joy which Brooks returns to in flashbacks. The juxtaposition between her happiest days and the year that follows also allows us to witness the transformation she undergoes from a wife and mother to a woman of great personal strength and independence.

Elinor and
While Mompellion tries to appeal to the Colonel’s responsibility the township and God’s wishes, the Colonel insists it is his right to protect himself and his family from “the lion”. Michael reveals an insight into his character when he roars, “One does not have to be a priest to be a man!” but the Colonel refuses to view his choice in this light. As an officer of the military, one might assume the Colonel to behave in a more honourable fashion. This difference in character is one Mompellion must be conscious of due to the brave sacrifice made by his own father during the