# Shelgrim — The Octopus character guide

> Shelgrim in The Octopus by Frank Norris.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Shelgrim

**First appearance:** 0005-book-i

## Snapshot

The railroad's remote president, a man whose power is felt in every freight rate and whose presence looms over the valley without his ever needing to appear.

## Who they are

Shelgrim is the president of the Pacific and Southwestern Railroad, the ultimate authority behind the rates, rebates, and land policies that squeeze the ranchers of Tulare County. He is distant, almost abstract, a force rather than a neighbor, and his decisions shape the fates of men who will never meet him. In the novel's moral architecture, he is the head of the octopus, the point at which corporate power becomes indistinguishable from natural law.

## In the story

### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_octopus_se/chapters/viii)

The railroad president, whom Presley attempts to see in his office, described as the master pulling the levers of oppression.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_octopus_se/characters/shelgrim
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_octopus_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_octopus_se/characters