# Jules Le Bon — A Cycle of the West character guide

> Jules Le Bon in A Cycle of the West by John G. Neihardt.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Le Bon

**First appearance:** 0004-i-ashley-s-hundred

## Snapshot

A French-Canadian trapper of the Ashley expedition, carrying the old voyageur's songs and skills into a country that is rapidly changing hands.

## Who they are

Le Bon belongs to the polyglot brotherhood of trappers who paddle, portage, and barter their way up the Missouri, their French patois and easy laughter a counterpoint to the grim business of survival. He embodies the older fur-trade world even as American expansion and Lakota resistance close in around it. His presence in the expedition's ranks gives the story its texture of lived-in frontier culture, where a man's worth is measured in pelts, endurance, and the songs he can raise around a fire.

## Relationships

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

_rivalry_

Jules Le Bon and Little Jim are antagonists, with Le Bon's treachery and cruelty directly opposing Jim's innocence and survival.

### [Hugh Glass](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/hugh_glass)

_rivalry_

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

### [Hugh Glass](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/hugh_glass)

_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)

_rivalry_

Jules Le Bon and Little Jim are antagonists, with Le Bon's treachery and cruelty directly opposing Jim's innocence and survival.

## In the story

### [IV: The Net Is Cast](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/iv-the-net-is-cast)

Le Bon is mentioned as one of the men who accompanied Carpenter on the cache-lifting expedition.

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

A practical and fearful member of the party, Le Bon helps Jamie flee from the Rees, but not before stripping the seemingly dead Glass of his gear.

### [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 traitor who abandoned Glass; his presence at the fort is implied by Henry's mention, and he is the first to see Glass's ghostly figure.

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

Mentioned as having taken Hugh's blanket, steel, and knife, contributing to Jamie's suffering.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/jules_le_bon
- 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