Steppenwolf Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Harry Haller

A middle-aged intellectual who believes he is half refined man, half wolf of the steppes, and has set his fiftieth birthday as a possible date to die. Hermine and Pablo drag him through pleasure and hallucination until he learns to laugh at himself.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Wolf Rents a Room; Part 2: A Funeral, a Goethe Engraving, a Dance Hall; Part 3: Hermine's School of Pleasure; Part 4: The Magic Theatre
Themes:: The self is many, not two; Bourgeois comfort versus the wolf's hunger; Suicide and the promise of laughter; The Immortals and deadly seriousness

Hermine

The young woman who spots Harry's despair at a dance hall and becomes his teacher in dancing, jazz, drugs, and love. She extracts a promise that he kill her when she asks—and in the Magic Theatre, he does.

Appears in:: Part 2: A Funeral, a Goethe Engraving, a Dance Hall; Part 3: Hermine's School of Pleasure; Part 4: The Magic Theatre
Themes:: Bourgeois comfort versus the wolf's hunger; Suicide and the promise of laughter

Pablo

A saxophonist who speaks little and radiates animal contentment, everything Harry despises. He turns out to be the guide to the Magic Theatre and appears disguised as Mozart to scold Harry into learning the game.

Appears in:: Part 3: Hermine's School of Pleasure; Part 4: The Magic Theatre

Maria

Hermine's friend, sent to a hotel to become Harry's lover. She teaches him physical intimacy and bodily joy without intellectual complications.

Appears in:: Part 3: Hermine's School of Pleasure
Themes:: Bourgeois comfort versus the wolf's hunger

Mozart

The chief of the Immortals in the Magic Theatre, appearing as Pablo's disguise. He laughs at Harry's deadly seriousness and teaches him humor.

Appears in:: Part 4: The Magic Theatre
Themes:: The Immortals and deadly seriousness

How they are connected

Key relationships

Harry Haller Hermine
Hermine and Pablo drag him through pleasure and hallucination until he learns to laugh at himself.
Harry Haller Pablo
Hermine and Pablo drag him through pleasure and hallucination until he learns to laugh at himself.
Pablo Mozart
He turns out to be the guide to the Magic Theatre and appears disguised as Mozart to scold Harry into learning the game.
Maria Harry Haller
Hermine's friend, sent to a hotel to become Harry's lover.
Maria Hermine
Hermine's friend, sent to a hotel to become Harry's lover.
Mozart Harry Haller
He laughs at Harry's deadly seriousness and teaches him humor.

Go deeper

Steppenwolf themes & symbols

The self is many, not two · Bourgeois comfort versus the wolf's hunger · Suicide and the promise of laughter · The Immortals and deadly seriousness

Themes explained

Read the full Steppenwolf summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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