Leo Colston

E359208

Leo Colston is the reflective narrator and central figure of L.P. Hartley’s novel "The Go-Between," whose childhood experiences of acting as a messenger between illicit lovers shape his adult understanding of memory, class, and betrayal.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Leo Colston canonical 3

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf fictional character ⓘ
literary character ⓘ
actsAs go-between ⓘ
adultCharacterTrait emotionally repressed ⓘ
haunted by past ⓘ
adultProfession retired civil servant (implied) ⓘ
ageInMainEvents about thirteen ⓘ
appearsIn The Go-Between ⓘ
associatedWithLocation Brandham Hall ⓘ
associatedWithQuote The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there. ⓘ
centralCharacterOf The Go-Between ⓘ
childCharacterTrait imaginative ⓘ
naive ⓘ
childhoodSetting Norfolk country house ⓘ
consequenceOfTrauma lifelong psychological damage ⓘ
createdBy L. P. Hartley ⓘ
firstPublicationContext The Go-Between (1953 novel) ⓘ
linked to: The Go-Between
gender male ⓘ
hasOlderSelfIn The Go-Between ⓘ
hasYoungerSelfIn The Go-Between ⓘ
interactsWith Maudsley family ⓘ
involvedIn illicit love affair as messenger ⓘ
language English ⓘ
literaryPeriod 20th-century British literature ⓘ
literaryRole reflective narrator ⓘ
messengerFor Marian Maudsley ⓘ
Ted Burgess ⓘ
narrativeFunction explores unreliability of memory ⓘ
mediates between childhood and adulthood perspectives ⓘ
narrativePerspective first-person ⓘ
narrativeStructureRole frame narrator ⓘ
narratorOf The Go-Between ⓘ
nationality English ⓘ
occupation narrator ⓘ
remembersEventsFrom fifty years later ⓘ
socialStatus middle class ⓘ
symbolicRole embodiment of lost innocence ⓘ
victim of class system ⓘ
themeAssociation betrayal ⓘ
class ⓘ
loss of innocence ⓘ
memory ⓘ
repression ⓘ
timePeriodOfChildhood summer of 1900 ⓘ
traumaticEvent discovery of Marian and Ted's affair ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Go-Between → mainCharacter → Leo Colston ⓘ
Marian Maudsley → usesGoBetween → Leo Colston ⓘ
Ted Burgess → usesGoBetween → Leo Colston ⓘ