# Bernard — Short Fiction character guide

> Bernard in Short Fiction by Voltairine de Cleyre.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0000-a-rocket-of-iron

## Snapshot

A young idealist in love with an older woman's energy, Bernard insists her youth has not expired even as she predicts his inevitable turning away.

## Who they are

Bernard is the youth who proposes a communal farm and presses his love on a woman who calls herself too old to learn and mend her mistakes. She tells him plainly that what he loves is her energy, her life, and that when her feet stop springing he will want dancing feet beside him; he retorts that he knows his own mind. Their exchange unfolds against a road where radiant girls and racing young men pass by, sharpening the ache of the years between them and the question of whether devotion can outlast the body's fading.

## Relationships

### [Bella](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/characters/bella)

_romantic_

Bernard and Bella's reciprocal listing confirms a romantic relationship, possibly with mutual dependency.

### [David](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/characters/david)

_rivalry_

David and Bernard's single interaction underscores a tense, competitive dynamic, likely over Effie.

### [Bella](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/characters/bella)

_romantic_

Bernard and Bella's reciprocal listing confirms a romantic relationship, possibly with mutual dependency.

### [David](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/characters/david)

_rivalry_

Bernard and David have limited but pointed interactions, hinting at a rivalry possibly over Effie or status.

### [Bella](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/characters/bella)

_romantic_

Bella and Bernard's second listing reinforces a romantic entanglement, possibly with jealousy or secrecy.

## In the story

### [The Triumph of Youth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/chapters/the-triumph-of-youth)

Young man in love with the woman, initially devoted but later turns to Bella.

### [Some Nihilists I Have Met](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/chapters/some-nihilists-i-have-met)

A young man who married a woman he did not love out of pity, but she left him after a year; he is described as a nihilist and a violinist.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/characters/bernard
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/characters