The Main Character

The protagonist of "The Invention of Morel" remains unnamed throughout the story. The reader quickly learns that the man is a fugitive from justice. In the diary he keeps he maintains his innocence although he does not specify what crimes he is accused of. The man is being pursued by Venezuelan authorities, his own countrymen. The man was born in Caracas, Venezuela. He learns from a rug merchant in Calcutta that there is an island—Villings Island—that was left abandoned by people long ago and that it would be a perfect place in which to hide from the law. The merchant warns him that the island has many dangers including a deadly disease that breeds there. However, the man is so fearful of capture and imprisonment that he decides to take the risk. He travels by row boat across the rough sea and...