Character Analysis
Lance Andrewes Lamar (Lancelot):
Lancelot is the narrator and is the only person narrating throughout the entire book. Lancelot is telling the story to his friend Harry the priest, or who he likes to call Percival. Lancelot states that he admitted himself into the facility for aberrant behavior which tells readers that he may not be the most credible. He confesses that he is on a mission to seek the truth of evil and ends up finding his thoughts on evil, sex, and women.
Lancelot is a man born into traditional Southern family who lived in Belle Isle—he believed his mother and father to be good but as a child discovered his father stole money and his mother committed adultery. As Lancelot grew up, he became a lawyer who represented black men and women in civil rights cases. Lancelot’s first marriage was with a woman named Lucy who had his first two children, a boy and a girl. Lancelot’s first wife died due to illness years later; as a result, Lancelot then married for a second time to a woman named Margot. Lancelot admitted that his first wife Lucy was virgin-like, and pure as opposed to Margot whom he had sexual passion for. Lancelot made it easy to see that he was an alcoholic and did not see things clearly because he was always at the bottom of a bottle. Lancelot later finds out that Margot cheated on him, and their daughter Siobhan was not his real daughter. Lancelot becomes sober and creates a quest in his mind to seek out evil; as a result, he asked Elgin, a black teenager and friend, to spy for him. Towards the end of the novel Lancelot sees the infidelity right in front of his eyes, kills Margot’s lover and ends up burning Belle Isle down killing three others, including Margot.
Harry or Percival—the priest-physician:
Harry is his real name, but Lancelot likes to call him Percival, he was a friend of Lancelot’s in college and was too an alcoholic just like Lancelot. The two friends used to go to brothels together and enjoyed partying together as well. They both grew up together, and Lancelot admitted that Percival was richer than he was—Percival attended private high school and Lancelot attended public school. They later ended up going to college together. At the beginning of the novel Percival seemed to have lost his faith when Lancelot explained that he saw him at the cemetery and a woman asked him to say a prayer to which Percival refused. As the book progresses there are signs that show Percival regained his faith because he began wearing his priest uniform once again. In a way, through Lancelot’s quest to find evil, Percival regained the good in him, his belief in God.
Troy Dana and Raine Robinette:
Troy Dana is the actor that plays the hero being filmed at Belle Isle, and his girlfriend Raine Robinette follows him around and is an active member of their strange group. Troy and Raine even try to convince Lucy Lamar to move to Hollywood to become their lover and their helper. The couple are easily as seen as swingers and Raine even has sex with Lancelot right next to Troy Dana before the fire of Belle Isle started.
Janos Jacoby:
Janos Jacoby is the director of the movie being filmed at Belle Isle and can be seen as a bit obnoxious and a know-it-all. Jacoby is the true man that Margot is having an affair with and Lancelot even catches Jacoby in bed with Margot. Lancelot and Jacoby end up fighting, but it ends with Jacoby’s demise. Lancelot murdered him and burns down Belle Isle “accidentally.”
Merlin:
Merlin is the actor Lancelot first thought Margot was having an affair with because he went to the same acting class as Margot did in Texas when she became pregnant with Siobhan. When Lancelot finds out it was not Merlin committing sexual misconduct with Margot, Lancelot allows Merlin to leave Belle Isle before he completed his quest to finding evil (catching Margot in the sex act and burning Belle Isle).
Lucy Cobb:
Lucy is Lance’s first wife who he believed to be the purest love of his life. Lancelot saw Lucy as a virgin and pure woman—everything Margot was not. Lucy passed away due to illness which left Lancelot a single dad until he married Margot.
Anna:
Anna is the woman staying in the room next to Lancelot in the facility for abberant behavior. Anna was raped by several sailors and was forced to commit sexual acts—she has mental and physical scar leaving her to never want to speak to anyone. Lancelot becomes obsessed with Anna because he believed her to be a virgin and pure woman just as his wife. Even though Anna was raped she was still considered a virgin to Lancelot because she did not ask for the sex it was forced on her.
Margot:
Margot is Lancelot’s second wife and is quite young compared to Lancelot—she is a free spirit and has great sex appeal to Lancelot. Margot is a Texas girl, born and raised in Odessa, Texas. When Margot first met Lancelot she fell in love with Bell Isle and had an obsession with redecorating the house. Lancelot and Margot eventually got married, and Margot spent most of her time fixing up Belle Isle. Lancelot stated that it made her happy and when she was finished with the house she got bored; therefore, Margot decided to go into acting and she was happy again. Margot fell into a group of actors and even got Lance’s daughter, Lucy, into acting with them. Margot eventually had an affair the director, Janos Jacoby. Margot was very sneaky, for example she would stay out all night with the actors and would tell Lance she simply got tired—Margot knowingly understood that Lancelot was always at the bottom of the bottle and knew it was easy to trick a drunk.
Siobhan Lamar and Tex Reilly:
Siobhan is the supposed daughter of Lancelot, but he soon realized she was not due to a simple form that showed her blood type was “O.” Siobhan is mostly sent upstairs to stay with her grandfather, Tex Reilly, (Margot’s father) who Siobhan is easily annoyed with. The two are rarely seen in the book and would be minor characters. Siobhan’s only significance in the book is that she is proof of the evil that Lancelot is endlessly searching for.
Lucy Lamar:
Lucy is Lancelot’s daughter with his previous wife, Lucy; she is only a teenager but goes into acting with her stepmother. Lucy falls in love with a couple in their cult-like actors group, Troy Dana and Raine Robinette, and even commits sexual acts with the two. Lucy does not show a huge significance in the novel other than her father catching her in a love triangle on camera. Lancelot sends her away before he decided to catch Margot in the act and burned down Belle Isle.
Elgin:
Elgin is an educated African American boy and can even be one of Lancelot’s closest friends throughout the novel. Lancelot hires Elgin to spy on Margot, and he was even the one that set up the cameras in each hotel room for Lancelot to watch. Towards the end of the book Lancelot sends Elgin away giving him thousands of dollars for college. Lancelot clearly cared for Elgin and was grateful for everything he did for him.