# Hirsch — Nostromo character guide

> Hirsch in Nostromo by Joseph Conrad.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** señor Hirsch, the miserable Hirsch

**First appearance:** 0003-nostromo

## Snapshot

A terrified Jewish hide merchant caught between the rebel factions, he becomes the helpless witness whose fear exposes the cruelty of Sotillo's rule.

## Who they are

Hirsch deals in hides along the coast and has the misfortune to be in Sulaco when the revolution breaks, a foreigner with no protector and no courage to spare. Bound and dragged before Sotillo, he is interrogated and tormented for information he does not have, his misery becoming the measure of the colonel's theatrical savagery. He matters because his ordeal turns the abstract politics of the revolt into flesh-and-blood terror, and his fate haunts the novel's moral atmosphere long after his brief scenes.

## Relationships

### [Nostromo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nostromo_se/characters/nostromo)

_rivalry_

Hirsch is a terrified pawn caught between Nostromo and Sotillo, but his presence threatens Nostromo's secret about the silver.

### [Nostromo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nostromo_se/characters/nostromo)

_rivalry_

Hirsch is a terrified pawn caught between Nostromo and Sotillo, but his presence threatens Nostromo's secret about the silver.

## In the story

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nostromo_se/chapters/viii)

Hides on the lighter in terror; his silence is a constant danger.

### [Chapter IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nostromo_se/chapters/iv)

Reported to have survived by clinging to an anchor; his news reveals recent events.

### [Chapter IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nostromo_se/chapters/ix)

Dead body present at the scene; his execution by Sotillo is referenced as a warning of what Nostromo might face.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nostromo_se/characters/hirsch
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nostromo_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nostromo_se/characters