Don Carlo Levi

Don Carlo Levi is the author and main character of Christ Stopped at Eboli. He is a political prisoner who spends a year in the town of Gagliano, in the province of Lacania in Southern Italy from late summer 1935 to spring 1936. Carlo has been imprisoned for criticizing the Fascist regime in Italy at the time. It is not clear his political position, although he is often thought to be an anarchist.

Carlo is no mere political prisoner, however. He has many talents. First, he is a trained physician although he has not practiced medicine in some time when he reaches Gagliano. He also paints extensively, which impresses the simple townspeople, and he even once plays piano for the church. Obviously he is a writer of great talent as well. The people of Gagliano regard his presence with them as a kind of God-send; they see him...