The setting of the story is predominately in the countries of Afghanistan
and Tibet with emphasis on the mysterious Valley of Blue Moon also known
as Shangri-La. The Prologue takes place in Germany and the Epilogue takes
place in Delhi, India. The year is 1930, but there are flashbacks to historical
times as well.
Hugh Conway
Hugh is the main character who comes to Shangri-La and falls
in love with the paradise he finds there. After he's forced to leave,
he ends up an amnesiac, but when he regains his memory, he strives with
every desire in his heart to return to the mysterious valley where he
was appointed High Lama.
Charles Mallinson
A vice-consul to Conway's consul, he is one of the diplomats
who is deliberately brought to Shangri-La. However, he is the only one
of the four on the plane who chafes to return to the outer world. His
fate is never known.
Henry D. Barnard
Another one of the high jacked passengers, Barnard is an American
whose name is actually Chalmers Bryant, a financier who had stolen 100
million dollars and then had disappeared. He eventually decides to stay
at Shangri-La and offer his services to prospect the gold there and make
it available to improve the life in the lamasery and the valley.
Miss Roberta Brinklow
She is a missionary who also ends up on the hijacked flight.
She is a determined woman who believes it is Providence that she ends
up in the valley. She wants to stay there and preach Christianity to the
people of the valley. This is acceptable to the lamasery which believes
in being moderate and exploring all things in life.
Chang
A Chinese man who leads the travelers into Shangri-La, he is
also an initiate of the lamasery and provides support to the travelers
when they need comfort. He answers as many questions as possible that
they may have, and he speaks highly of Conway to the High Lama.
Perrault
He is the French friar who comes to the lamasery in 1719 and
is still alive in 1930. He comes to know Conway and believes that he is
the successor he has been waiting for. He tells Conway the story of Shangri-La
and teaches him many lessons about the purpose of the lamasery, and why
the four travelers had been brought there.
Lo-Tsen
An upper-class Manchu, Lo-Tsen is seemingly a young girl who is very beautiful
and attracts the attentions of all the men around her. She seems to show
them little romantic interest and acts content to play piano and be a
part of the mystery of Shangri-La. Later, however, she falls in love with
Mallinson and loses her youth when she follows him out of the valley.
Rutherford
A novelist who is a friend of the narrator, he is the first to
hear Conway's story and writes it down after listening to Conway for twenty-four
straight hours. He later goes in search of the man when he once again
disappears.
The Narrator
This character, a neurologist, remains nameless, but ties the
plot together by reading the manuscript Rutherford had written to tell
Conway's story.
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on A Long Way Gone".
TheBestNotes.com.
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