Toilers of the Sea · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo.
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Gilliatt
major
Also known as Captain Gilliatt, Safe Gilliatt, Malicious Gilliatt, the Horse Gilliatt
Gilliatt lives apart from St. Sampson's gossip, and the gossip repays him with suspicion: stones he arranged, a house he passed, a name linked to the King of the Auxcriniers. Yet his hands know the sea and his mind knows machines, and he watches Déruchette with a devotion no one suspects. When the island's one great enterprise is wrecked, the man everyone distrusts becomes the man everyone must depend on.
Mess Lethierry
major
Also known as Lethierry, Mess, Miss Lethierry
Lethierry is a weather-beaten, broad-shouldered man who bends before neither wave nor neighbor, a peasant who has read Diderot and trusts the sea more than any parson. His pride is the Durande, the steamer he willed into being against every skeptic on the island, and his tenderness is Déruchette, the niece he raised like a daughter. When his fortunes and his ship are threatened, his obstinacy becomes both his glory and his danger.
Déruchette
major
Also known as Miss Déruchette, Bonnie Dundee, Durande Déruchette Lethierry
Déruchette flits through her uncle's house like a goldfinch, chirping and singing, adored by Lethierry and watched from afar by Gilliatt. She is kind, uncalculating, and largely unaware of the depths of feeling she stirs in the men around her. Her choice, when it comes, will quietly decide the fates of everyone who loves her.
Captain Clubin
major
Also known as Clubin, Sieur Clubin, Jean Auberge Sieur Clubin, Mess Clubin, Monsieur Clubin
Clubin keeps the Jean Auberge, commands Lethierry's steamer, and is trusted by everyone who knows him, which is precisely the advantage he has spent years cultivating. He speaks gently, moves carefully, and holds a revolver as easily as a pipe; his meeting with the fugitive Rantaine on a lonely Breton rock reveals a mind that has already priced every loyalty. His secret designs on the Durande will set the novel's central catastrophe in motion.
Rantaine
supporting
Also known as that scoundrel Rantaine
Rantaine once shared Lethierry's ventures before vanishing with a stolen sum that ruined his partner's trust in men. Now he skulks along the Breton coast in false whiskers and gaiters, paying a smuggler captain for passage to escape the law. His midnight encounter with Clubin on the rocks near St. Enogat exposes the captain's true nature and plants the seed of the disaster to come.
Rev. Mr. Caudray
supporting
Also known as Caudray, Joseph Ebenezer Caudray, M. Caudray, the Rev. Ebenezer Caudray
Caudray is a fresh-faced minister whose mild manners and sincere vocation set him apart from the island's rougher sailors and gossips. He is drawn into the Lethierry household, where Déruchette's brightness and his own youthful heart begin to answer each other. His presence turns Gilliatt's private love into a contest the fisherman never asked to enter.
Tangrouille
supporting
Also known as the unlucky Tangrouille, the steersman Tangrouille
Tangrouille keeps his rum and gin in a hiding-place in the hold, convinced no one knows of it, and steals down nearly every night for furtive draughts under Captain Clubin's strict, sober eye. On the eve of departure he finds an unexpected bottle of brandy, drinks it all to destroy the evidence, and takes the helm the next morning with a slight oscillation of the body. His frailty is the human crack through which the story's disaster enters.
Sieur Landoys
minor
Also known as Landoys
A local notable and occasional character in the Guernsey community.
M. Gertrais-Gaboureau
minor
Also known as Captain Gertrais, Captain Gertrais-Gaboureau, Old Captain Gertrais-Gaboureau
A local captain and acquaintance of Lethierry.
Grace
minor
A minor female character mentioned in the narrative.
The Stranger
minor
Also known as the stranger
A mysterious figure observed by Clubin at the inn.
Reverend Jaquemin Hérode
minor
Also known as the Reverend Jaquemin, the Reverend Jaquemin Hérode, Doctor Jaquemin Hérode, Doctor Hérode, M. Jaquemin Hérode, M. Hérode
A local clergyman and minor character in the community.
Captain Zuela
minor
Also known as Zuela
A captain mentioned in passing during maritime discussions.
Douce
minor
A servant or minor female character in the household.
Blasquito
minor
Also known as Blasquito vendra, El Blasquito
A Spanish or foreign sailor mentioned in the narrative.
Imbrancam
minor
A minor character or name mentioned in the story.
Cashmere
minor
Also known as the Cashmere
A sloop that plays a role in the story's maritime events.
The Man Rock
minor
Also known as The Man Rock, The Man
A rock formation personified in the narrative.
Gillian
minor
A minor character possibly related to Gilliatt.
Captain of the Shealtiel
minor
Also known as the captain of the Shealtiel
The unnamed captain of the ship Shealtiel.
Satan
minor
Also known as Satan Caesar, Caesar
A dog owned by a character, mentioned briefly.
Rebekah
minor
Also known as Rebecca
A biblical name referenced in the narrative.
Duguay-Trouin
minor
Also known as Duguay Trouin
A historical French privateer mentioned in passing.
Jean Bart
minor
Also known as old Jean Bart
A historical French naval commander mentioned in the text.
Lise
minor
Also known as Lisette, Lisa, Betsy, Elizabeth
A minor female character or name variant.
Vesin Brovard
minor
A minor character mentioned in the narrative.
Monsieur Rébuchet
minor
A local figure mentioned in the story.