# Mike Fink — A Cycle of the West character guide > Mike Fink in A Cycle of the West by John G. Neihardt. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Fink **First appearance:** 0000-the-song-of-three-friends ## Snapshot A boastful, brooding keelboatman whose jealous temper can curdle a campfire brotherhood faster than any blizzard sweeping the tent walls. ## Who they are Mike Fink is the hard-drinking, hard-fighting boatman whose long friendship with Frank Talbeau is poisoned when a woman comes between them and he forces a choice no loyal man can make. His sullen silence around the embers, broken only by a snarling 'To hell wid you!', shows a pride too proud to curse and too wounded to forgive. His estrangement from Talbeau splits the trio at the heart of the expedition, turning companionship itself into contested ground. ## Relationships ### [Frank Talbeau](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/frank_talbeau) _rivalry_ Frank Talbeau and Mike Fink are fierce antagonists, with Fink's violent bravado clashing against Talbeau's more measured frontier pragmatism. ### [Will Carpenter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/will_carpenter) _rivalry_ Mike Fink and Will Carpenter are bitter enemies, their conflict rooted in personal grudges and competitive violence on the frontier. ### [Colonel Maynadier](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/colonel_maynadier) _professional_ Colonel Maynadier and Mike Fink have a professional military relationship, with Maynadier commanding and Fink serving as a scout or soldier. ### [Red Cloud](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/red_cloud) _rivalry_ Mike Fink and Red Cloud are enemies, embodying the violent frontier conflict between white trappers and Lakota warriors. ### [Frank Talbeau](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/frank_talbeau) _rivalry_ Frank Talbeau and Mike Fink are fierce antagonists, with Fink's violent bravado clashing against Talbeau's more measured frontier pragmatism. ### [Will Carpenter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/will_carpenter) _rivalry_ Mike Fink and Will Carpenter are bitter enemies, their conflict rooted in personal grudges and competitive violence on the frontier. ### [Frank Talbeau](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/frank_talbeau) _rivalry_ Frank Talbeau and Mike Fink are fierce antagonists, with Fink's violent bravado clashing against Talbeau's more measured frontier pragmatism. ### [Will Carpenter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/will_carpenter) _rivalry_ Mike Fink and Will Carpenter are bitter enemies, their conflict rooted in personal grudges and competitive violence on the frontier. ## In the story ### [The Song of Three Friends](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/the-song-of-three-friends) One of the three friends, a bold and boastful keelboatman whose pride and temper drive the central conflict. ### [The Song of Three Friends](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/the-song-of-three-friends) A boisterous, strong, and Rabelaisian boatman, one of the three friends, who accidentally kills Carpenter and later rides with Talbeau to deliver a message, haunted by guilt. ### [II: The Up-Stream Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/ii-the-up-stream-men) One of the three friends; a jocular, pugnacious rogue with a love for jest and fight. ### [III: To the Musselshell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/iii-to-the-musselshell) Volunteers for the trading expedition to the Musselshell, leading the party. ### [IV: The Net Is Cast](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/iv-the-net-is-cast) Fink, the ribald jester, falls deeply in love for the first time upon seeing the Long Knife's daughter, undergoing a profound change from his usual womanizing ways. ### [V: The Quarrel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/v-the-quarrel) Brooding and estranged from Carpenter, Fink's anger festers throughout the winter. He eventually attacks Carpenter during a card game, showing his violent temper. ### [VI: The Shooting of the Cup](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/vi-the-shooting-of-the-cup) Fink broods over his defeat and later sings an Irish song that moves the men to silence. ### [VII: The Third Rider](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/vii-the-third-rider) Volunteers for the mission, rides with Talbeau, haunted by Carpenter's death, jokes nervously, struggles with thirst after the fire. ### [Vengeance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/viii-vengeance) Fink, parched and desperate, pleads for water from Talbeau, who refuses. He is later forced eastward by Talbeau at gunpoint, and his corpse is discovered by Talbeau. ### [The Song of Hugh Glass](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/the-song-of-hugh-glass) One of the men who abandoned Glass, representing the betrayal that fuels Glass's quest for vengeance. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/mike_fink - 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