Kralefsky Character Analysis in My Family and Other Animals

Kralefsky is Gerry's final tutor on Corfu. Gerry initially thinks that Kralefsky is more gnome than human, as he's bald and has a hunchback. Though he is an exacting tutor in all subjects, he also recognizes that he has more luck teaching Gerry when the subject matter appeals to his interests. To this end, Gerry learns French by reading a French bird guide. Kralefsky is an aviculturist (one who keeps and breeds birds), and the entire top floor of his mansion is lined with cages containing all manner of birds. He has a deep love of storytelling, though a number of his stories are presumably not true: Gerry discovers that he can surreptitiously plant an idea one day and the next day, Kralefsky has a story prepared involving "a Lady" and whatever situation Gerry might have suggested. However, Gerry doesn't always recognize that Kralefsky's stories are entirely fantasy: he takes Kralefsky at his word when Kralefsky regales him with a tale about wrestling a famous wrestler in Paris and begs for a wrestling lesson, during which he ends up seriously hurting Kralefsky.

Kralefsky Quotes in My Family and Other Animals

The My Family and Other Animals quotes below are all either spoken by Kralefsky or refer to Kralefsky. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

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I was not, however, the least impressed by this last bit of information; I had met a number of people who professed to be interested in birds, and who had turned out (after careful questioning) to be charlatans who did not know what a hoopoe looked like...

Related Characters: Gerry Durrell (speaker), Mother, Kralefsky

Page Number and Citation: 191

Explanation and Analysis: