The Washington Square Ensemble | Characters & Character Analysis

The Washington Square Ensemble Characters

In Madison Smartt Bell's novels, character development is generally stronger than plot development. The Washington Square Ensemble is certainly no exception, as multiple, widely divergent voices are blended into a single narrative of the formation and dissolution of this group of small-time "Pharmaceuticals salesmen" (i.e., drug dealers). Like a musical ensemble, their story consists of four major motifs developed through a series of movements in two major parts. The novel also resembles a theatrical ensemble in which the focus is upon the group rather than the individual actors — the five major characters and two minor ones who constitute the cast. Existing on the fringes of organized crime, this group operates on the principle that a small operation allows the participants anonymity and reduces the chance that either major criminals or the police will consider them worth harassing.

The manager of this drug-selling operation is a charismatic 'white...
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