As the main character, the entire focus of what the author wants the
reader to learn is filtered through Conway. He is a consul in the British
diplomatic corps, in his late thirties, and a veteran of the First World
War. From that experience, he changes into a man who has exhausted his
passions and has gained wisdom as a result. He takes life more patiently
and falls in love with Shangri-La. He finally knows that Mallinson and
Lo-Tsen are a corruption in this idyllic valley and takes on his former
persona as a leader to take them away from Shangri-La. He also willing
accepts the position of High Lama, because he has accepted the purpose
he has within this paradise. Once he leaves, he does everything he can
to get back. He's also the character who represents good within the midst
of the doom of the outer world.
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. He is the antithesis
of Conway in that he fails to see the beauty and the promise of Shangri-La
and foolishly chooses to leave what he sees as an evil environment. As
a result, he is irrevocably lost, and his fate is never known. His name
seems to reflect his attitude - MALlison (mal being the Latin for bad),
and yet we cannot actually label him as evil. He makes poor choices and
encourages Lo-Tsen to do the same, but as readers, we feel sorry for him
since his life is lost and he also loses the beauty of a life in Shangri-La.
Another one of the hijacked passengers, Barnard is an American whose
name is actually Chalmers Bryant, a financier who had stolen 100 million
dollars and then had disappeared. When he explains the events that led
to him becoming the biggest swindler in the world, we see how a good man
could be caught up in something of which he loses control. He never meant
to hurt anyone, and he seems to offer a great deal to Shangri-La and the
Valley of Blue Moon. 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. He is perfect for the position,
because it deals with finances, and it gives him a chance to atone for
the mistakes he made in the outside world. That speaks volumes for the
purpose of Shangri-La - in that beautiful valley, there is always a way
to resolve every problem and turn it to good.
She is a missionary who also ends up on the hijacked flight. She is
a determined woman who believes it is Providence that she ended up in
the valley. However, at first, she is reluctant to associate with the
lamas or the people in the valley, because she's afraid they are heathens
or they will hurt her, because her belief system differs from theirs.
Eventually, however, she takes up the learning of the Tibetan language
so she can speak to the people. She wants to stay there and preach Christianity.
This is acceptable to the lamasery which believes in being moderate and
exploring all things in life. Again, the valley and the lamasery are willing
to accept any and all people who might be of benefit to their world and
perhaps, later, in the outside world, if the doom that seems to hang over
it comes to past.
The 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. In fact, it
is his recommendation that causes the High Lama to call Conway into his
room and to eventually see him as the perfect successor to his own position.
Chang is 98 years old and just now is being initiated into the lamahood.
He will devote the next 100 years or more to leaving his past behind and
seeking the promise of the future. He is always optimistic and believes
that the purpose that the lamasery has been following, with the encouragement
of Father Perrault, will be necessary when the outside world self-destructs.
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. He is the one who makes Conway understand that
Shangri-La is a paradise whose purpose is to be a haven when the outside
world destroys itself.
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. She is actually elderly when Conway
arrives there. Later, she falls in love with Mallinson and loses her youth
when she follows him out of the valley. Because she becomes involved in
a physical relationship with Mallinson, she becomes a corrupting influence
within the world of Shangri-La and must be removed. Her foolish decision
to leave denies her the opportunity to live her life in paradise, and
in this sense, she is symbolic of the Biblical figure of Eve.
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 talk for twenty-four
straight hours. He later goes in search of the man when he once again
disappears. Like the narrator, he sincerely hopes that Conway makes it
back to Shangri-La. He is ultimately a changed man after experiencing
Conway's story, because he comes to believe there is place where all the
strife and corruption of the outside world is eliminated, and people live
in peace and prosperity.
This character, a neurologist, remains nameless, but ties the plot together by reading the manuscript Rutherford had written to tell Conway's story. Like Rutherford, he seems to hope sincerely that Shangri-La is real, and that Conway will find it again. It is hard to judge the kind of man he is, because he so seldom appears in the plot. However, it can be determined that he is intelligent and open to the most fantastic possibilities in the world we all live in.
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on A Long Way Gone".
TheBestNotes.com.
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