# Colonel Blount — Vile Bodies character guide

> Colonel Blount in Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Colonel, Even Colonel Blount

**First appearance:** 0005-iii

## Snapshot

Colonel Blount is Nina's dotty, hospitable father, happiest when loaning his house to a film crew so he can carry a pitchfork in a costume drama.

## Who they are

The Colonel lives in a rambling country house overrun by a cinematograph company shooting a Wesleyan massacre, and he could not be more delighted to be cast as an extra. He is vague, generous, and entirely absorbed in his own enthusiasms, which makes him both an obstacle and an accidental enabler of Adam's marriage plans. His cheerful detachment from consequence is one of the novel's funniest and most unsettling running notes.

## Relationships

### [Adam Fenwick-Symes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/adam_fenwick_symes)

_social_

Colonel Blount is Nina's eccentric, alcoholic father who tolerates Adam but remains aloof and preoccupied with his own absurd schemes.

### [The Rector](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/the_rector)

_social_

Colonel Blount and the Rector share a strained acquaintance, with the Rector often exasperated by the Colonel's drunken antics and irreverence.

### [Nina Blount](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/nina_blount)

_family_

Colonel Blount is Nina's neglectful, eccentric father who loves her in his own distracted way but fails to provide stability.

### [Mrs. Florin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/mrs_florin)

_professional_

Mrs. Florin is Colonel Blount's long-suffering housekeeper, who manages his household and endures his drunken demands.

### [Sir James Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/sir_james_brown)

_social_

Colonel Blount and Sir James Brown are drinking companions and fellow members of the same social set, sharing a love of alcohol and absurdity.

### [Adam Fenwick-Symes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/adam_fenwick_symes)

_social_

Colonel Blount is Nina's eccentric, alcoholic father who tolerates Adam but remains aloof and preoccupied with his own absurd schemes.

### [Adam Fenwick-Symes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/adam_fenwick_symes)

_social_

Colonel Blount is Nina's eccentric, alcoholic father who tolerates Adam but remains aloof and preoccupied with his own absurd schemes.

### [The Rector](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/the_rector)

_social_

Colonel Blount and the Rector share a strained acquaintance, with the Rector often exasperated by the Colonel's drunken antics and irreverence.

### [Sir James Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/sir_james_brown)

_social_

Colonel Blount and Sir James Brown are drinking companions and fellow members of the same social set, sharing a love of alcohol and absurdity.

### [Mrs. Florin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/mrs_florin)

_professional_

Mrs. Florin is Colonel Blount's long-suffering housekeeper, who manages his household and endures his drunken demands.

### [Mrs. Florin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/mrs_florin)

_professional_

Mrs. Florin is Colonel Blount's long-suffering housekeeper, who manages his household and endures his drunken demands.

### [Nina Blount](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/nina_blount)

_family_

Colonel Blount is Nina's neglectful, eccentric father who loves her in his own distracted way but fails to provide stability.

## In the story

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/chapters/v)

Gives Adam a cheque signed 'Charlie Chaplin' as a joke, showing his eccentricity.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/chapters/ix)

Preoccupied with the film 'John Wesley', fails to recognize Adam or understand his purpose.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/chapters/xiii)

Colonel Blount hosts the Christmas celebrations, praises the John Wesley film, and proposes a business partnership to Adam.

### [Happy Ending](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/chapters/happy-ending)

Mentioned in Nina's letter as showing his film to the wounded at Doubting Hall.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters/colonel_blount
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vile_bodies_se/characters