The Princess Bride

by

William Goldman

Goldman's Father Character Analysis

Goldman's father was a Florinese immigrant who came to the U.S. as a sixteen-year-old. He never fully learned English and so though he held a job as a barber, he was never very successful. In the framing device surrounding the actual story of The Princess Bride, Goldman implies that he and his father were never close, mostly because of the language and cultural differences, until Goldman came down with pneumonia as a ten-year-old. At this point, Goldman's father began to read him The Princess Bride, which he insisted was a Florinese classic. Goldman learns years after his father's death that his father only read him the exciting parts of the novel and left out almost 700 pages of boring Florinese court history.

Goldman's Father Quotes in The Princess Bride

The The Princess Bride quotes below are all either spoken by Goldman's Father or refer to Goldman's Father. 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:
Fact vs. Fiction  Theme Icon
).
Prologue Quotes

The more I flipped on, the more I knew: Morgenstern wasn't writing any children's book; he was writing a kind of satiric history of his country and the decline of the monarchy in Western civilization.

But my father only read me the action stuff, the good parts. He never bothered with the serious side at all.

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Goldman's Father, Jason, S. Morgenstern
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:

I know I don't expect this to change anybody else's life the way it altered mine.

[...]

Anyway, here's the “good parts” version. S. Morgenstern wrote it. And my father read it to me. And now I give it to you. What you do with it will be of more than passing interest to us all.

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Goldman's Father, S. Morgenstern
Page Number: 32
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

It's one of my biggest memories of my father reading. I had pneumonia, remember, but I was a little better now, and madly caught up in the book, and one thing you know when you're ten is that, no matter what, there's gonna be a happy ending. They can sweat all they want to scare you, the authors, but back of it all you know, you just have no doubt, that in the long run justice is going to win out.

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Buttercup, Prince Humperdinck, Goldman's Father
Page Number: 237
Explanation and Analysis:

“Westley dies,” my father said.

I said, “What do you mean, ‘Westley dies’? You mean dies?”

My father nodded. “Prince Humperdinck kills him.”

“He's only faking thought, right?”

My father shook his head, closed the book all the way.

“Aw shit” I said and I started to cry.

“I'm sorry,” my father said. “I'll leave you alone,” and he left.

“Who gets Humperdinck?” I screamed after him.

He stopped in the hall. “I don't understand.”

“Who kills Prince Humperdinck? At the end, somebody's got to get him. Is it Fezzik? Who?”

“Nobody kills him. He lives.”

“You mean he wins, Daddy? Jesus, what did you read me this thing for?”

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Goldman's Father (speaker), Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Prince Humperdinck
Related Symbols: The Zoo of Death
Page Number: 285
Explanation and Analysis:
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Goldman's Father Quotes in The Princess Bride

The The Princess Bride quotes below are all either spoken by Goldman's Father or refer to Goldman's Father. 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:
Fact vs. Fiction  Theme Icon
).
Prologue Quotes

The more I flipped on, the more I knew: Morgenstern wasn't writing any children's book; he was writing a kind of satiric history of his country and the decline of the monarchy in Western civilization.

But my father only read me the action stuff, the good parts. He never bothered with the serious side at all.

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Goldman's Father, Jason, S. Morgenstern
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:

I know I don't expect this to change anybody else's life the way it altered mine.

[...]

Anyway, here's the “good parts” version. S. Morgenstern wrote it. And my father read it to me. And now I give it to you. What you do with it will be of more than passing interest to us all.

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Goldman's Father, S. Morgenstern
Page Number: 32
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

It's one of my biggest memories of my father reading. I had pneumonia, remember, but I was a little better now, and madly caught up in the book, and one thing you know when you're ten is that, no matter what, there's gonna be a happy ending. They can sweat all they want to scare you, the authors, but back of it all you know, you just have no doubt, that in the long run justice is going to win out.

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Buttercup, Prince Humperdinck, Goldman's Father
Page Number: 237
Explanation and Analysis:

“Westley dies,” my father said.

I said, “What do you mean, ‘Westley dies’? You mean dies?”

My father nodded. “Prince Humperdinck kills him.”

“He's only faking thought, right?”

My father shook his head, closed the book all the way.

“Aw shit” I said and I started to cry.

“I'm sorry,” my father said. “I'll leave you alone,” and he left.

“Who gets Humperdinck?” I screamed after him.

He stopped in the hall. “I don't understand.”

“Who kills Prince Humperdinck? At the end, somebody's got to get him. Is it Fezzik? Who?”

“Nobody kills him. He lives.”

“You mean he wins, Daddy? Jesus, what did you read me this thing for?”

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Goldman's Father (speaker), Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Prince Humperdinck
Related Symbols: The Zoo of Death
Page Number: 285
Explanation and Analysis: