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Walter
Raphael is the Hotel Caiette’s manager. He hires Walter to be the night manager three years before Ella Kaspersky hires Paul to write a threatening message on the lobby’s glass wall. Raphael receives Walter’s incident report detailing the message and commends him on his thorough work. Although Raphael doesn’t particularly like Walter, he supports Walter’s offer to become the hotel’s caretaker in the aftermath of the collapse of Jonathan Alkaitis’s Ponzi scheme in 2008.
Raphael Quotes in The Glass Hotel
The The Glass Hotel quotes below are all either spoken by Raphael or refer to Raphael. 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:
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Chapter 3: The Hotel Quotes
“Very few people who go to the wilderness actually want to experience the wilderness. Almost no one.” Raphael leaned back in his chair with a little smile, presumably hoping that Walter might ask what he meant, but Walter waited him out. “At least, not the people who stay in five-star hotels,” Raphael said. “Our guests in Caiette want to come to the wilderness, but they don’t want to be in the wilderness. They just want to look at it, ideally through the window of a luxury hotel. They want to be wilderness-adjacent. The point here—” he touched the white star with one finger, and Walter admired his manicure—“is extraordinary luxury in an unexpected setting. There’s an element of surrealism to it, frankly. It’s a five-star experience in a place where your cell phone doesn’t work.”
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This passage occurs during Walter’s interview with Raphael for the position of night manager at the newly renovated Hotel Caiette. During the interview, Raphael explains to Walter the appeal of the Hotel Caiette for its guests. Raphael’s explanation of the Hotel Caiette positions the resort as a simulation of sorts. It’s a place wealthy people can go to experience the wilderness from a removed, artificial perspective: “a five-star experience in a place where your cell phone doesn’t work.” The novel explores at times the way that geographic and social isolation can function as a means through which characters can get Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem impedit sunt. Excepturi ullam nobis. Ducimus odio quo. Ut autem harum. Omnis vel voluptatum. Assumenda o
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Raphael Character Timeline in The Glass Hotel
The timeline below shows where the character Raphael appears in The Glass Hotel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3: The Hotel
The narrative flashes back to three years ago, when Walter’s general manager, Raphael, first told him about the job at Hotel Caiette: They meet in a coffee shop...
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...shakes the doorman, Larry’s, hand as he makes his way through the entrance. He finds Raphael waiting at the reception desk. After dinner and signing contracts, Walter thinks about something Raphael...
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...whoever did it intended for it to be viewed from the lobby. Later that day, Raphael commends Walter on his detailed incident report. He agrees with Walter that the graffiti is...
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Back in the present, Walter explains to Raphael that he found it unusual that Paul would have studied the guest list to know...
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Walter trudges through the remainder of his shift and meets with Raphael in the morning. Walter tells Raphael he saw Paul loading his belongings onto a boat....
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...bar. Khalil informs him that Vincent took a sudden vacation. The next day, Vincent informs Raphael that she won’t be returning to the hotel. The vandalized glass panel is eventually replaced....
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Chapter 15: The Hotel
...and that he’s lost all his life’s savings. In a daze, Walter goes to see Raphael, who informs him that the hotel’s future is now in jeopardy, as well.
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...out that the trustee hired to manage Alkaitis’s estate has decided to sell the hotel. Raphael reveals that the hotel hasn’t made a profit in years and that it’s unlikely a...
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When Walter tells Raphael of his plans to stay on and act as the hotel’s caretaker, Raphael thinks he’s...
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...Alkaitis’s arrest, when the last guest checks in and the other employees begin to leave. Raphael leaves for his new job in Edmonton, boarding a boat driven by Melissa, whose last...
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