# Paddy — The Hairy Ape character guide

> Paddy in The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neill.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Paddy Who, Paddy

**First appearance:** 0003-scene-i

## Snapshot

A wizened Irish stoker who sings whiskey chanties and mourns the vanished sailing ships, measuring the new iron age against a lost, freer past.

## Who they are

Paddy is the forecastle's elder voice, drunk and doleful, whose monkey-like face carries the sad patience of a man who has outlived his trade. He needles Yank with the suggestion that the lady's visit was love, not insult, and sings of whiskey and old sailing days while the younger men drown him out. His nostalgia for a time when men were men and not coal-fed machines sharpens the contrast that haunts Yank's rage.

## Relationships

### [Yank](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hairy_ape_se/characters/yank)

_friendship_

Paddy attempts to connect with Yank through shared experience, but Yank rejects his nostalgia.

### [Yank](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hairy_ape_se/characters/yank)

_friendship_

Paddy attempts to connect with Yank through shared experience, but Yank rejects his nostalgia.

## In the story

### [Dramatis Personae](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hairy_ape_se/chapters/dramatis-personae)

Listed as a character in the dramatis personae.

### [The Hairy Ape: A Comedy of Ancient and Modern Life in Eight Scenes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hairy_ape_se/chapters/the-hairy-ape)

An old Irish stoker who contrasts Yank's modern pride with nostalgic longing for a past where sailors were in harmony with nature.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hairy_ape_se/characters/paddy
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hairy_ape_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hairy_ape_se/characters