# de Barral — Chance character guide

> de Barral in Chance by Joseph Conrad.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Mr. de Barral, the great de Barral, old de Barral, the Great de Barral

**First appearance:** 0007-iii-thrift-and-the-child

## Snapshot

A ruined financier whose glittering reputation collapses into prison, he looms over his daughter Flora's fate like a debt that can never be repaid.

## Who they are

Once hailed as the great de Barral, a man whose financial genius seemed to bend fortune itself, he now exists as a cautionary monument to vanity and collapse. His ruin is not merely financial but moral: it leaves Flora adrift in a world that judges her for his crimes. When Captain Anthony prepares a private stateroom aboard the Ferndale for his father-in-law, the gesture carries both tenderness and dread, for de Barral's presence threatens to poison the fragile happiness built in his shadow.

## In the story

### [III: Thrift—and the Child](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chance_se/chapters/iii-thrift-and-the-child)

His financial empire collapses, leaving him destitute and helpless, unable to care for his daughter.

### [V: The Great de Barral](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chance_se/chapters/v-the-great-de-barral)

Released from prison, he is bitter and suspicious of his daughter's marriage, feeling betrayed by the world and by Flora's choice.

### [VI: … a Moonless Night, Thick with Stars Above, Very Dark on the Water](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chance_se/chapters/vi-a-moonless-night-thick-with-stars-above-very-dark-on-the-water)

Referred to as Mr. Smith, he speaks of shame and escape, and his presence creates unease.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chance_se/characters/de_barral
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chance_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chance_se/characters