Michael Saparelli Character Analysis in The Glass Hotel

Saparelli is the lead investigator of Vincent’s mysterious disappearance from the Neptune Cumberland in 2018. He is a former NYPD officer who works in the security office of Leon Prevant’s former shipping company (for which Leon now works as a consultant). Saparelli and Prevant, who serves as a witness to the investigation, journey to Rotterdam, Germany, where the Neptune Cumberland is docked, and gather information about Vincent from the ship’s crew. Felix Mendoza, the steward, provides Saparelli and Prevant with information that makes Geoffrey Bell, the third mate and Vincent’s boyfriend at the time, a possible person of interest in Vincent’s disappearance. However, Saparelli convinces Prevant to turn a blind eye to this troubling new information, as it would scandalize the shipping company they’re both representing, which would all but guarantee that Prevant will not be called back for future consulting work. Saparelli’s decision not to investigate Vincent’s disappearance shows how greed and self-interest can motivate a person to hurt or exploit others.

Michael Saparelli Character Timeline in The Glass Hotel

The timeline below shows where the character Michael Saparelli appears in The Glass Hotel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...to take his time going over the materials. She explains that a man named Michael Saparelli, a former NYPD police officer, will conduct the interviews in the investigation, and that Leon... (full context)

Fraud and Constructed Identity Theme Icon

Leon meets Saparelli when he boards the plane to Germany, where the investigation will take place. Saparelli clarifies... (full context)

Leon and Saparelli arrive in Germany and are transported to the shipping terminal. They head toward the Neptune... (full context)

Alienation and Self-Knowledge Theme Icon

Saparelli asks if Vincent ever seemed depressed, but Mendoza says she seemed happy: she’d travel all... (full context)

It’s late afternoon by the time the investigation wraps up. As Leon and Saparelli are about to leave the ship, Mendoza reappears and offers to walk them out. Saparelli... (full context)

Saparelli looks ill. Leon imagines what would happen if these allegations came to light. Leon and... (full context)

In the car on the way to the airport the next morning, Saparelli asks to see Leon’s notebook. Leon hands it to him, and Saparelli removes and pockets... (full context)

Saparelli contends that while Mendoza might have told them “an unsettling anecdote,” it changes nothing about... (full context)

The week after the investigation, Saparelli sends Leon a video retrieved off Vincent’s laptop, which seems to suggest that Vincent regularly... (full context)