Karol Character Analysis

Karol is a character in the story-within-a-story in “Telling Fairy Tales.” He’s a Polish man whom the Soviets arrested when they invaded Poland, thereby starting World War II. Throughout the story, Karol holds tightly to his memories of his wife and his baby son, who were left behind in Poland. They—and eventually, the bear prince—remind Karol that he’s human and should do everything in his power to be kind. They also help Karol deal with the trauma of having been arrested and sent to a concentration camp before being conscripted into the armed forces. Karol cares for the bear prince like he might his own son, and he recognizes that the bear prince seems shockingly human. Because of his close relationship with the bear prince, Karol manages to hang onto his humanity and his hope all through his service in the Middle East and his brief time stationed in Italy. But when Karol learns that his wife and son are dead, he loses all interest in the world and in the bear prince. After saying goodbye to the bear prince at the Edinburgh zoo, Karol spends the rest of his life in Edinburgh but never returns to see his friend.