Great House Character Analysis

In Nicole Krauss’s Great House, the reader is introduced to three characters in the novel who share many similarities, one being that they are all writers. Although the characters all share a common hobby, they each also have diverse meaning for why they write and what they write about. These characters, Nadia, Dov, and Lotte, are separated by sections of the novel but they are all connected through their passion for writing, and the sense of loss and grief they all feel. Through their passions and their grief, these three characters can be compared and contrasted on three levels: how writing fits into the rest of their lives, what they write about, and what the connection is between writing and loss in their lives. As one of the main motifs in the novel is loss and grief, another aspect that connect the characters is the fact that they all have lost something that once stood at the centre of their lives. Nadia’s sense of loss comes from both her failed relationships, and a desk that she had to return. For twenty-five years Nadia used a desk lent to her by a young Chilean poet named Daniel Varsky. When Varsky returns to his home country of Chile, he becomes a victim of the Pinochet regime. Nadia, haunted by the memory of Daniel Varsky, uses his old desk and his memory to inspire her to write novels. Her …show more content…
Lotte is also a writer, who can be described as a locked drawer and a torment to love. Her husband begins to guess at the loss around which she is formed only at the end of their long life together. Lotte was forced to flee Europe during the war to save her life, which in turn resulted in the loss of all her family. She uses writing to distract herself from the guilt she feels at having to abandon her parents. Lotte uses her writing as a way of expressing her inner thoughts and feelings as she chooses not to open up to anyone else, including her own husband, about the things that plague her the