# Geppe — Adam’s Breed character guide > Geppe in Adam’s Breed by Radclyffe Hall. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Geppe greedy, poor Geppe, Young Geppe, Poor Geppe, Only Geppe, December Geppe **First appearance:** 0000-book-i ## Snapshot Rosa's grown son, a boastful, work-shy braggart who sells cigarettes badly, brags about his army days, and drives his grandfather Nerone to fresh fury. ## Who they are Geppe drifts through the family shop as a reluctant wage-earner, more interested in smoking tobacco than selling it and forever recounting his military prowess to anyone who will listen. His laziness and insolence collide with Nerone's penny-pinching temper, filling the house with quarrels that echo louder as he ages. Around him the family's wartime anxieties gather, and his restless uselessness sharpens the contrast with Gian-Luca's earnest striving. ## Relationships ### [Rosa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/characters/rosa) _friendship_ Geppe and Rosa are friends or allies, with a warm and cooperative dynamic. ### [Nerone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/characters/nerone) _friendship_ Geppe and Nerone share a friendly, supportive relationship. ### [Rosa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/characters/rosa) _friendship_ Geppe and Rosa are friends or allies, with a warm and cooperative dynamic. ### [Nerone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/characters/nerone) _friendship_ Geppe and Nerone share a friendly, supportive relationship. ### [Rosa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/characters/rosa) _friendship_ Geppe and Rosa are friends or allies, with a warm and cooperative dynamic. ### [Nerone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/characters/nerone) _friendship_ Geppe and Nerone share a friendly, supportive relationship. ## In the story ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/i) Rosa's son, a turbulent six-year-old born just before Gian-Luca's first term at school. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/iii) Geppe is greedy, sucks on food, chokes, and is given Chianti and water; he threatens to give Berta head lice. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/i) Young child, spills coffee on his blouse, grumbles during washing, dressed in a sailor suit. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/ii) Fretful child who wants to walk with Gian-Luca and requires attention. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/iii) Complains of a stone in his shoe and imitates his father's limp; eats jam tartlets at the cake-shop. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/iv) Falls asleep on the bus, leaning against his mother; his small hand is sticky. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/iii) Visits the shop with Berta, eats olives, and mimics Nerone's manner. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/v) Mentioned by Nerone as lazy and a thief of cigarettes. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/vi) Grumbles about Gian-Luca's luck while Rosa tells him to continue sweeping. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/ii) Geppe is lazy, greedy, and dreams of becoming a commercial traveler to escape the shop. He hates Nerone, fears military service, and longs for immoral adventures but lacks the courage to pursue them. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/iii) Dragged to Mass reluctantly, bored with church but constrained by fear of Hell. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/iii) Has gone to Italy for military service, eager for a change but causing Rosa anxiety due to his easily blistered hands. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/iii) Mentioned as likely to go to war if Italy enters. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/iv) Returns home from military service, swaggering and confident, but clashes with Rocca over Italy's war involvement. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/vi) Returns from the army, now more useless in the shop and boastful about his military prowess, leading to renewed quarrels with Nerone. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/i) Pale and silent, he avoids food and goes out drinking, disturbed by the war's implications. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/ii) Receives his call-up papers and is overwhelmed by fear of war; he suppresses his panic to meet his family's expectations. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/chapters/iii) Killed by shrapnel in the twelfth battle of the Isonzo; his death is reframed as heroic by Nerone. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/characters/geppe - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/adam_s_breed_se/characters