# Mr. Nosnibor — Erewhon character guide

> Mr. Nosnibor in Erewhon by Samuel Butler.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0021-xvii-ydgrun-and-the-ydgrunites

## Who they are

A prosperous Erewhonian merchant whose respectable household becomes the narrator's refuge, and whose daughters pull him toward the country's strangest customs.

## In the story

### [To the Metropolis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/ix-to-the-metropolis)

A wealthy embezzler who invites the narrator to stay; highly respected in Erewhonian society despite his crime.

### [Current Opinions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/x-current-opinions)

Host to the narrator; he embezzled money and is undergoing treatment by a straightener, including fines, bread and milk diet, and monthly floggings.

### [XII: Malcontents](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xii-malcontents)

Mentioned indirectly as part of the society the narrator observes.

### [XIV: Mahaina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xiv-mahaina)

Recovered from his flogging and looking forward to the last one; he is busy with business and appears prosperous.

### [The Musical Banks](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xv-the-musical-banks)

A pillar of the other kind of bank, though he holds a minor office in the Musical Banks; visits the mother bank occasionally.

### [XVI: Arowhena](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xvi-arowhena)

The narrator dislikes him for embezzling money; shows attention but not liked.

### [Birth Formulae](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xviii-birth-formulae)

Mr. Nosnibor is one of the sources who informs the narrator about Erewhonian beliefs in preexistence.

### [XX: What They Mean by It](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xx-what-they-mean-by-it)

Mentioned as someone who would deny the narrator's observations about parent-child relations.

### [Escape](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xxviii-escape)

His garden is used as a meeting place for the narrator and Arowhena.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/characters/mr_nosnibor
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/characters