Erewhon Revisited · Character
Professor Hanky
A pompous Erewhonian professor and architect of Sunchildism, he guards the profitable myth of the Sunchild with vanity, bluster, and a willingness to burn inconvenient evidence.
major
Also known as Hanky, the Sunchild, Professor, XVI Professor Hanky
First appearance: III: My Father While Camping Is Accosted by Professors Hanky and Panky
As a major figure in Erewhon Revisited, Professor Hanky is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.
One of the professors who accosts my father; he is hungry and bribes my father for quails.
Hanky has built a career on the Sunchild's supposed miracles, complete with canonries, rites, and a study that happened to burn on a very useful night. He is vain, easily rattled, and ruthless when his authority is questioned—especially by Yram, whose stubbornness about the Sunchild's clothes nearly wrecked the whole fabrication. His fear of exposure drives the early hunt for the returned Higgs.
Free preview opens at this moment — character cards, Character Web, and themes sit beside the text as you read.
Character Web
17 connectionsA slice of how Professor Hanky sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.
Relationship types
- Rivalry
- Other
Character groups
- Erewhon's central figures
- Erewhon's peripheral characters
- Protagonist
+12 more in the full Character Web
Open in readerNarrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This chapter marks the dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of Higgs’s ret…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingRelationships
- My Father
rivalry · negative
Professor Hanky is a cunning antagonist who opposes my father's ideas and actions. How this plays out →
- The Narrator
rivalry · negative
- Yram
psychological · negative
- Professor Panky
professional · ambivalent
- George
rivalry · negative
- My Father
rivalry · negative
Professor Hanky is a cunning antagonist who opposes my father's ideas and actions. How this plays out →
- Yram
psychological · negative
- George
rivalry · negative
- The Narrator
rivalry · negative
- Professor Panky
professional · ambivalent
- My Father
rivalry · negative
Professor Hanky is a cunning antagonist who opposes my father's ideas and actions. How this plays out →
- Yram
psychological · negative
Relationship notes
How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.
See Professor Hanky in III: My Father While Camping Is Accosted by Professors Hanky and PankyIn the story
Professor Hanky appears across 22 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.
- III: My Father While Camping Is Accosted by Professors Hanky and Panky
- My Father Overhears More of Hanky and Panky’s Conversation
- V: My Father Meets a Son, of Whose Existence He Was Ignorant; and Strikes a Bargain with Him
- VI: Further Conversation Between Father and Son—The Professors’ Hoard
- Signs of the New Order of Things Catch My Father’s Eye on Every Side
- VIII: Yram, Now Mayoress, Gives a Dinner-Party, in the Course of Which She Is Disquieted by What She Learns from Professor Hanky: She Sends for Her Son George and Questions Him
- Interview Between Yram and Her Son
- X: My Father, Fearing Recognition at Sunch’ston, Betakes Himself to the Neighbouring Town of Fairmead
- +14 more
Chapter companion notes
Spoil-light check-ins for Professor Hanky unlock in the free preview.
See Professor Hanky in III: My Father While Camping Is Accosted by Professors Hanky and Panky