# The Sailor — The Four Men character guide

> The Sailor in The Four Men by Hilaire Belloc.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** I, me, myself, Sailor

**First appearance:** 0003-the-four-men

## Snapshot

He meets Grizzlebeard and Myself over breakfast at Brightling and promptly declares himself master of all sailors, paying his own way and answering to no plan but his own.

## Who they are

He meets Grizzlebeard and Myself over breakfast at Brightling and promptly declares himself master of all sailors, paying his own way and answering to no plan but his own. His cheerful vow to disappear at any hour without leave keeps the group loose and unpredictable, and his uncanny knack for threading forbidden woods makes him the one who actually knows the ground. He matters because his restlessness tests whether companionship on this walk can hold against a man who refuses to be held.

## In the story

### [Epigraph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_four_men_se/chapters/epigraph)

The speaker expresses a deep emotional connection to the southern landscape and the feeling of returning home.

### [The Four Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_four_men_se/chapters/the-four-men)

The narrator and protagonist of the journey.

### [The Twenty-Ninth of October 1902](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_four_men_se/chapters/the-twenty-ninth-of-october-1902)

The narrator, who decides to walk home to Sussex after a vision of the Arun valley.

### [The Thirtieth of October 1902](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_four_men_se/chapters/the-thirtieth-of-october-1902)

The narrator joins Grizzlebeard and the Sailor at the inn, tells the story of Fuller, and sets out westward.

### [The Thirty-First of October 1902](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_four_men_se/chapters/the-thirty-first-of-october-1902)

Sings a song about Sussex hills; leads the group to his house near Ashurst; expresses gladness at witnessing the nativity of the Arun.

### [The Thirty-First of October 1902](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_four_men_se/chapters/the-thirty-first-of-october-1902)

The narrator; leads the group; unlocks the house at Ashurst; lights the fire with a sheaf of disappointing verse; admits he may have heard the fairies but never seen them.

### [The First of November 1902](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_four_men_se/chapters/the-first-of-november-1902)

Leads the group, praises the ale at Washington Inn, and initiates the storytelling at the Bridge Inn.

### [The Second of November 1902](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_four_men_se/chapters/the-second-of-november-1902)

The narrator wakes from a dream, walks with companions, and writes a poem affirming his connection to the land.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_four_men_se/characters/unknown_narrator
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_four_men_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_four_men_se/characters