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Peleus
Neoptolemus is Achilles’s son, whom he has not seen in nine years by the time Ransom begins. Although Achilles himself will die before he has the chance to see his son again, he has a vision of Neoptolemus in the future: he sees his son, now a teenager, killing Priam during the final sack of Troy to avenge Achilles’s death. Malouf expands on this in the final pages of the novel, depicting the killing as an unsatisfying attempt on Neoptolemus’s part to live up to his father’s legacy, and an act that will haunt Neoptolemus with shame for the rest of his life.
Neoptolemus Quotes in Ransom
The Ransom quotes below are all either spoken by Neoptolemus or refer to Neoptolemus. 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:
).
Part 5 Quotes
And for him the misery of this moment will last forever; that is the hard fact he must live with. However the story is told and elaborated, the raw shame of it will be with him now till his last breath.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Neoptolemus Character Timeline in Ransom
The timeline below shows where the character Neoptolemus appears in Ransom. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1
...of life, like the change of the seasons—or, more personally, the growth of his son Neoptolemus, whom he has not seen since leaving for war.
(full context)
Part 4
Priam begins his appeal, asking Achilles how he would feel if his own son Neoptolemus were in Hector’s place. As Priam continues, he says he never imagined he would be...
(full context)
...his son must look like now at age sixteen. Ultimately, however, he can only picture Neoptolemus play-fighting as a young boy.
(full context)
...from it. He then again questions whether Achilles wouldn’t do what he is doing for Neoptolemus, or whether Peleus wouldn’t do the same for Achilles.
(full context)
...look at Priam again, he has a vision of the future: he sees his son Neoptolemus killing Priam in retribution for Achilles’s own death. Priam sees that Achilles is stunned and...
(full context)
Part 5
...“suspended.” The narrator, however, reminds his readers that this is not the case, explaining that Neoptolemus is already on his way to Troy, eager to claim his part in the story...
(full context)
The narrator skips forward, explaining that Priam’s actual death will be nothing like what Neoptolemus had imagined. Instead of mildly accepting his death, Priam watches in terror as Neoptolemus runs...
(full context)
