# Hugh Glass — A Cycle of the West character guide

> Hugh Glass in A Cycle of the West by John G. Neihardt.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Old Hugh Glass, Old Glass, Glass, Hugh

**First appearance:** 0012-the-song-of-hugh-glass

## Snapshot

An aging mountain man left for dead after a bear mauling, whose slow crawl back toward life is powered as much by betrayed love as by vengeance.

## Who they are

Hugh Glass is the gray veteran of the trapper camps, a man whose years sit on him like snow until a memory of Jamie's wind-blown hair and merry eyes rekindles a longing to live. Robbed of gun, flint, and blanket by the boy he cherished, he turns grief into a still white hell of brooding ire that drives him across the yellow plain. His ordeal anchors the book's opening movement, making endurance itself the first great test of the mountain man's world.

## Relationships

### [Little Jim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/little_jim)

_friendship_

Hugh Glass and Little Jim share a deep, loyal companionship, with Glass acting as a protector and mentor to the younger man.

### [Red Cloud](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/red_cloud)

_rivalry_

Hugh Glass and Red Cloud are adversaries, representing the clash between white frontiersmen and Native American resistance.

### [Jules Le Bon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/jules_le_bon)

_rivalry_

Hugh Glass and Jules Le Bon are enemies, as Le Bon abandons Glass to die, sparking Glass's quest for vengeance.

### [Gray Fox](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/gray_fox)

_rivalry_

Gray Fox and Hugh Glass are adversaries, with Gray Fox representing Native American hostility toward Glass's incursions.

### [Little Jim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/little_jim)

_friendship_

Hugh Glass and Little Jim share a deep, loyal companionship, with Glass acting as a protector and mentor to the younger man.

### [Jules Le Bon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/jules_le_bon)

_rivalry_

Hugh Glass and Jules Le Bon are enemies, as Le Bon abandons Glass to die, sparking Glass's quest for vengeance.

### [Little Jim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/little_jim)

_friendship_

Hugh Glass and Little Jim share a deep, loyal companionship, with Glass acting as a protector and mentor to the younger man.

## In the story

### [The Song of Hugh Glass](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/the-song-of-hugh-glass)

The central figure of the chapter, Glass endures a brutal bear attack and crawls over a hundred miles to seek revenge and survival.

### [The Song of Hugh Glass](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/the-song-of-hugh-glass)

Gray-bearded and gray-eyed, Glass is a stoic, powerful man with a hidden past. He rescues Little Jim in battle and later, after being betrayed by him, transforms his pain into a burning desire for revenge.

### [Graybeard and Goldhair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/i-graybeard-and-goldhair)

Gray-bearded and taciturn, Glass is a seasoned frontiersman with a hidden capacity for fierce loyalty, as shown when he rescues Jamie during the Arikara fight. He is later mauled by a bear and left for dead.

### [II: The Awakening](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/ii-the-awakening)

Awakens from a coma after a bear attack, discovers he has been abandoned, and resolves to survive and seek revenge.

### [III: The Crawl](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/iii-the-crawl)

The protagonist, crawling and hiding from a Ree war party, driven by vengeance and struggling with thirst and moral conflict.

### [IV: The Return of the Ghost](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/iv-the-return-of-the-ghost)

The ghost-like protagonist, driven by vengeance, recovers from his wounds and undertakes a perilous winter journey to the Big Horn's mouth.

### [V: Jamie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/v-jamie)

A gray old man, heartsick and driven by a quest to find Jamie, he struggles with vengeance and forgiveness, ultimately finding Jamie and offering reconciliation.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/hugh_glass
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters