Patrick Character Analysis

Patrick is an Irish former priest with one almost supernaturally keen eye. He is defrocked for using his extraordinary eyesight to ogle women and girls sexually. In 1799, one of Napoleon Bonaparte’s generals is visiting Ireland when he hears of Patrick’s gift and recruits him as a lookout for the French army. In 1804, he meets and befriends new army recruit Henri while in the French army camp of Boulogne, where his job is to spy on the English navy across the English Channel. While serving in successive Napoleonic wars, Patrick descends into alcoholism. During Napoleon’s disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia, Henri asks Patrick to desert the army with him. Patrick and his army sex worker friend Villanelle both decide to come along. The three deserters head for Venice, but Patrick dies in a sweating delirium before they reach their destination. As the ground is too hard for digging, Henri and Villanelle cover his body with dead leaves aboveground.