# Merlin Grainger — Short Fiction character guide

> Merlin Grainger in Short Fiction by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Merlin, The fascinated Merlin, old Merlin

**First appearance:** 0056-the-cut-glass-bowl

## Snapshot

A bookish young man in a dusty shop who becomes obsessed with a glamorous woman, only to find his life measured out in editions and regrets.

## Who they are

Merlin Grainger spends his days among first editions and forgotten authors, a human catalogue of other people's stories, until a woman of startling vitality walks into his shop and upends his quiet certainties. His obsession with her becomes the organizing principle of a life that otherwise drifts toward doddering old age and repeated jokes. The tension between the magic he imagines and the ordinary man he is gives the story its rueful, enchanted ache.

## In the story

### [O Russet Witch!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/o-russet-witch)

The protagonist, a young bookshop clerk who becomes obsessed with a mysterious woman he calls the 'russet witch.' His life is defined by his infatuation and the contrast between his dull reality and her perceived glamour.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/i)

A thin young man of twenty-five, employed at the Moonlight Quill Bookshop, who lives in a single room and secretly observes Caroline from his window.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/ii)

Proposes to Olive Masters at Pulpat's; his attention is divided as he observes Caroline at a nearby table; has let his appearance and habits decline since the Moonlight Quill became a secondhand shop.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/iii)

Now married to Olive, father to Arthur, and promoted to manager of the Moonlight Quill after ten years. He sees Caroline again on Easter Sunday.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/iv)

Now an old man, doddering and senile, owner of the Moonlight Quill bookshop, haunted by memories of Caroline.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/characters/merlin_grainger
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/characters