# Monte Carquinez — When God Laughs character guide

> Monte Carquinez in When God Laughs by Jack London.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Carquinez

**First appearance:** 0000-when-god-laughs

## Snapshot

An Aztec-Inca-Spaniard artist and adventurer who laughs at storms through golden wine, a paradox of savagery and delicacy.

## Who they are

Carquinez is the narrator's dear friend and comrade, a man who only becomes fully himself when wine sings in his blood and the high pitch returns to his thought. He calls himself Aztec, Inca, Spaniard, and looks it, with swarthy skin, barbaric black eyes, and a red necktie symbolizing the blood and brotherhood of man. He matters because his blasphemous intimacy with God and his laughter at the storm embody the book's title: a man who laughs while the gods laugh back.

## In the story

### [When God Laughs](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_god_laughs_se/chapters/when-god-laughs)

Carquinez is the central figure of the chapter, a friend and artist who debates the nature of satiety and the gods with the narrator. He is described as Aztec, Inca, and Spaniard, with a barbaric blackness to his eyes and a red necktie symbolizing the blood and brotherhood of man.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_god_laughs_se/characters/monte_carquinez
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_god_laughs_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_god_laughs_se/characters