Ernest

Ernest is the story’s central character. He was born in the valley where the story is set, and from an early age, he has possessed a deep reverence for the Great Stone Face that is a natural formation on a nearby mountain. Ernest deeply desires to see the prophecy fulfilled, in which a man born in the valley will grow up to achieve greatness and resemble the Face. As a boy, Ernest is kind and thoughtful, and he spends much time contemplating the Face. As a young man, he gains a deep understanding of kindness and sympathy from studying the Face, and he believes that the man of the prophecy will be kind, beneficent, and sympathetic.

Whenever a great man returns to the valley and is rumored to be the man of prophecy, Ernest is always disappointed to see that these great men do not resemble the...