Maestro

MAESTRO character description Eduard Keller:  A talented maestro, a great pianist that have hidden himself into the darkness, wanting to be unseen. He was an old man that was easily misjudged because of his physical appearances. He once was an Austrian, a student of Leschetizky, a German citizen with also a family. His Jewish wife Mathilde and son Eric both were murdered during WW2 whilst he performed for Hitler. (Paul: He believed that being a famous German citizen would save his Jewish wife and child from the Nazi’s. But this was not to be the case.) (Joseph Henisch: They did not die. They were murdered. Pg136) (Paul: First impressions' Misleading, of course. Pg3)  At Darwin, he lived at the Swan, in a hotel room above a bar. He became Paul’s teacher and tutored him through his musical journey. Most times Keller would try to stay invisible to others, he rarely went out. Keller was also an alcoholic, he had a shared beer garden and he loved his Schnapps and newspaper. He had many self-made scrapbooks filled with newspaper articles that have been pasted in, an entire collection of valuable records of human foolishness. (Paul: Living above The Swan, he is rarely seen without a schnapps and a newspaper.) (John: A weakness for bibacity. Pg9) (Paul: Keller constantly collects clippings of newspaper articles. It seems he liked to study the behavior of others to help him understand himself.)  Keller was a well cultured character, much in contrast to people that lived in Darwin within the text. He had manners of a noble, however he had no idea how to compliment others and encourage his students. This was affected by his depressing experiences during the war, from insensitivity and stupidity which shattered his family. (Paul: The suit: white linen, freshly pressed. And absurdly, In that climate – the stiff collar and tie. Pg3) ( Keller: I do not like your Chopin. Pg12) (Keller: Fortunately –unlike you- she understands that she does not understand. Pg12) Paul Crabbe:  Paul is the main character and the narrator throughout the entire text. The novel was told based on Paul’s memories. He was a witty, adaptable but self-centered boy at the start, most times arrogant. He was fairly talented in music, one in a thousand as Keller would say. However his talents were not high as his parent’s expectation. Keller told him that he was not a concert pianist because that would require a student of one in a million. Paul did not believe that, which he later suffered from in his adult life. (Keller: Paul is my best student, yes. One in a thousand, but a concert Pianist is one in a million.) (Paul: A private code of polysyllables for Adults only information, a code I had long broken. Pg9) (Paul: I’m serious. He’s a sadist. He… Pg8)  Paul comes from a highly cultured family, moved to Darwin because of his father’s job transaction. During his life in Darwin he made friends with people that were totally in contrast to him. He started to hang around people that he normally would never have relation to. He even joined his friend’s band, “The Rough Stuff”. Later, the band was disassembled after a band member was removed because of another “intruder”. He had desires for Megan Murray, a girl that was in relationship with another band member Scotty Mitchell, one of Paul’s friends. However he also loved Rosie, another girl that moved to Darwin from England. Paul and Rosie later went in a relationship and a marriage, which produced a son of their own in Melbourne. (Nancy: You agreed to the transfer. John: I agreed to the promotion Pg8) (Paul: Megan’s desk stood in front of mine, and perhaps it was her back that I first loved. Pg32) (Jimmy Papas: And Megan belongs to Scotty. Pg33) (Paul said to Rosie: ‘I wanted to tell you,’ I blurted out. ‘I love you very much. There will never be anyone else. Pg81)  Paul hated his teacher Keller. He felt he was treated unjustly. But later soon discovered Keller’s goodness within and started to love him like a father. He learned many things during his childhood with Keller, but sadly not enough. After he left Darwin and became mature, he made many poor life decisions and really slowed down in improvement in the musical field. At the end he finally came to realize that he can only achieved technical perfection. He had no hope for musical perfection. He wasted many of his time and effort trying to achieve his ambition of perfection. However, he had a family of his own, he was a loving father and he gave Keller the best last farewell, by visiting him at the last moments of his life. (Paul: The injustice of it all overwhelmed me. Pg12) (Paul: ‘You are my teacher,’ I said. ‘You’ve been like a father to me.’ Pg115) (Paul: But a second-rate perfection is all I have any hope of attaining: technical perfection, not musical perfection. Pg148) (Paul: ‘Wie gehts, Maestro.’ I whispered, the word for the first time sounding upper-case in my mouth, respectful.” Pg144) John Crabbe:  Paul Crabbe’s father, a Government Medical Officer. Has great interest in music, the only thing in common to his wife. His childhood was during the war, much time was wasted because of that. He regrets about his wasted childhood and wanted Paul to be better than him, which in a way allows his dreams to be fulfilled by his son. He loves his son, and had high expectation for Paul’s future. (Nancy: Your Father never had your opportunities. Pg14) (Nancy: He always regretted. Pg14) (Paul: Music was glue. To both my parents, music was their true career. Pg16) Nancy Crabbe:  Paul Crabbe’s mother, used to be a librarian but now just a housewife. Has great passion for music. A gorges woman who have also been highly cultured. Loves his son Paul and also had high expectation of Paul’s future success. (Paul: My mother likewise: a librarian before marriage. Pg16) (Paul: They had wanted a concert pianist in the family for years. Pg126) Rosie Zollo:  A girl that moved to Darwin from England, Paul’s French teacher’s daughter. Became Paul’s girlfriend later and was married to Paul. A very smart girl, had a high-pitched voice, like an insect. Rosie admired Paul, and loved him from the start. They used to practice piano in the music room at lunchtimes, and that’s the origin place of their relationship. Later left Darwin for Melbourne and studied their as a medical student. (Paul: She was the other smart kid in the class. Pg63) Megan Murray:  Scotty Mitchell’s girlfriend, a beautiful girl with pale hair. A more outgoing girl that loved playing around. Once offered to have sex with Paul, but rejected. However she was always in Paul’s dream, arousing his sexual feelings. She was the main target of Paul’s first ever wet dream. On the other hand, she was a selfish person, used to being desired and was very passive during her sexual contact with Paul. (Paul: She was too selfish, I realized later. Pg80) (Paul: It was the feel of her soft, thick hair that woke me one late May morning, hard and pulsing below waist, the bedsheets sticky with a strange pale honey, the first I’d seen. Pg32)