# The Madman — Character guide

> Key figures in The Madman by Khalil Gibran.

- [The Madman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_madman_se/characters/the_madman.md): He moves through the market and the holy mountain alike, addressing thieves, God, and friends with the same unsettling candor. His central tension is that understanding enslaves, so he guards his inward self even as he o
- [Sorrow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_madman_se/characters/sorrow.md): Born from the madman's soul, Sorrow walks beside him as a distinct presence rather than a mood, sharing his exile from the understood. The tension is intimate: he cannot fully welcome or dismiss her, since she both wound

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