# Joseph Navarro — Gil Blas character guide

> Joseph Navarro in Gil Blas by Alain-René Lesage.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Señor Joseph Navarro, Navarro, This Navarro

**First appearance:** 0017-xiv

## Snapshot

A cunning servant whose smooth manners and self-serving schemes make him the most treacherous ally Gil Blas ever trusts.

## Who they are

Navarro operates in the space between master and servant, where secrets are currency and loyalty is a bargaining chip. He is useful, ingratiating, and entirely unreliable — the kind of man who will carry your message and sell your confidence in the same afternoon. He matters because he represents the particular danger of the servant class in Gil Blas's world: the man who knows too much and owes too little.

## Relationships

### [Gil Blas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/gil_blas)

_friendship_

Gil Blas and Joseph Navarro are close friends and confidants, sharing adventures and supporting each other through hardships.

### [Gil Blas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/gil_blas)

_friendship_

Gil Blas and Joseph Navarro are close friends and confidants, sharing adventures and supporting each other through hardships.

### [Gil Blas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/gil_blas)

_friendship_

Gil Blas and Joseph Navarro are close friends and confidants, sharing adventures and supporting each other through hardships.

## In the story

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/v)

Mentioned as Melchior's nephew and factotum in the family of Don Balthazar de Zúñiga, recommended to Gil Blas for friendship in Madrid.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/i)

Melchior de la Ronda's nephew who warmly welcomes Gil Blas and helps him secure a position with Don Diego de Monteser.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/v)

Mentioned as someone who could have assisted Gil Blas financially but was neglected by him.

### [The Morals of Gil Blas Become Courtly](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/x)

Gil Blas's former benefactor, deceived and betrayed when Gil Blas sells a promised position to another.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/iii)

Old friend of Gil Blas; reconciles with him and introduces him to Don Balthazar de Zúñiga.

### [Gil Blas Ingratiates Himself with the Count of Olivarez](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/iv)

Mentioned as having provided a summary of Gil Blas's adventures to Don Balthazar.

### [Chapter V: The Private Conversation of Gil Blas with Navarro, and His First Employment in the Service of the Count d'Olivarez](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/v)

Provides Gil Blas with detailed insights into the characters of the Count, Countess, and their daughter, and advises him on how to succeed at court.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/joseph_navarro
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters