Mieczysław (Mieczhś) Wojnicz

Mieczysław (Mieczhś) Wojnicz is the main character of the novel. He is alternately referred to as Mieczysław, Mieczhś, or Wojnicz throughout the novel. For the sake of clarity, this guide refers to him primarily as Wojnicz. As the protagonist, the first person plural narrator most often inhabits Wojnicz’s consciousness and renders the world from his point of view. Wojnicz is a 24-year-old, “Catholic, student at Lwów Polytechnic, born 1889, eyes blue, height average, face round, hair fair” (2). At the start of The Empusium, his father January Wojnicz sends him to the Guesthouse for Gentlemen in Görbersdorf in hopes that Dr. Brehmer’s renowned sanitarium will cure Wojnicz of his tuberculosis. Wojnicz feels positive when he first arrives and readily commits to his doctor, Dr. Semperweiss’s health regimes for him. However, the longer he is there the more convinced he becomes...