The Magus

The protagonist and first-person narrator of the book, Nick, is 25 years old at the start of the narrative. Nick loses his parents in a plane crash when he is 23; he downplays the effect of the tragedy on himself, but the narrative implies Nick is more traumatized by the event than he shows. Nick describes himself as not bad-looking, and according to Alison he has “quite a nice mouth” (18). Bright and well-read, Nick has an interest in writing, the arts, and philosophy. At Magdalen College at Oxford, Nick becomes a part of a club called “Les Hommes Révoltés” (6), which translates to “the rebels,” a possible reference to an essay by French philosopher Albert Camus.

In the club, Nick and his peers spend hours debating French existentialist novels, indicating that Nick ponders questions of existence and identity. Though Nick is confident in his intellect, he confesses to often feeling dissatisfied and aimless. He longs to get away from the mundane world—first that of his parents, and subsequently England. In his quest for adventure, Nick represents the new adult striving to remake the world in their own image.