Melchior Gabor

Melchior is an adolescent boy who is going through puberty. He is intelligent and does well in school, and his mother indulges him without really engaging in dialogue with him. Melchior is smart enough to have figured out the facts of life through observation, and he tries to help his friend Moritz by explaining sex. Melchior also tries to figure out morality through thought and observation, but he is not as successful without points of reference. He over-intellectualizes his reactions, refusing to acknowledge "love," but at the same time giving in to passions.

Melchior is a philosophical boy, concerned about morality. He perceives that good works give the doer pleasure and reflects that being saved or condemned depends on whether doing good works happens to appeal to someone's character, which is out of the person's control. He believes that all actions are self-serving, and so he gives...