On the Characters of "The Last Samurai" by Helen Dewitt

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The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt is actually quite an engaging book once you really read it and learn to be open-minded about it. The first half is very confusing, full of digressions and confusing changes of scenes as it is. Despite this, once you get past the bewildering twists and turns of the point of view, and the perplexing dialogue, you start enjoying the wit and intelligence portrayed in the book, especially by the main characters, Sibylla Newman and her son Ludovic. Sibylla is seen using unorthodox ways of teaching Ludovic about the world. She starts educating him at a young age about things that would normally be taught to youths a decade older than him. Ludovic, or Ludo, as his mother calls him, eagerly absorbs the knowledge. Every day, he finds the time to expound on his knowledge. He’s very dependent on Sibylla, asking questions every now and then about this and that. Sibylla introduces him to the movie “Seven Samurai”, hoping that he will take the actors as his male role models in the face of the incompetence of his unknown father. The second half of the book is absolutely brilliant. Ludo takes us on an adventure to find his potential father figure. Here it is clear that Ludo is becoming more independent of his mother. Instead of Sibylla being the one to take care of and teach Ludo, it is the other way around. Sibylla becomes less involved in Ludo’s education, so he takes it upon himself to learn on his own. At 11 years old, Ludo has changed quite a lot from his 3-year old self. The dynamic of their mother-son relationship has changed over the years; it is like they have traded positions with each other. Ludo remains quite the questioning character, though. I admire Ludovic the most out of all the characters. He is quite the engaging character, intelligent, inquisitive, and keen for more knowledge. I love the way his character developed all throughout

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