The Immortalists

by

Chloe Benjamin

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Immortalists makes teaching easy.

Robert Character Analysis

Robert is Simon’s boyfriend. Simon meets Robert in ballet class in San Francisco, though Robert is initially standoffish toward the other dancers because he is the only Black dancer in the class. When Simon confronts Robert and tells him he should be friendlier, Robert kisses Simon and their relationship begins. They quickly move in together, and as Simon rises through the ranks of the ballet company, they also perform together. Robert is more cautious than Simon, and so when AIDS begins to spread throughout San Francisco, Robert suggests that they quarantine because they don’t yet know how the disease is spread. Simon refuses to do this, and he subsequently starts sleeping with other partners. Simon and Robert then both contract AIDS, and Robert stays with Simon while he dies. After Simon’s death, Robert begins a ballet company in Chicago. At the end of the novel, he reconnects with Varya to share some of his memories of Simon with her.

Robert Quotes in The Immortalists

The The Immortalists quotes below are all either spoken by Robert or refer to Robert. 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:
Fate vs. Choice Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

It occurs to Simon that he would like to have a life like this: a career, a house, a partner. He’s always assumed that these things are not for him—that he’s designed for something less lucky, less straight. In truth, it is not only Simon’s gayness that makes him feel this way. It’s the prophecy, too, something he would very much like to forget but has instead dragged behind him all these years. He hates the woman for giving it to him, and he hates himself for believing her. If the prophecy is a ball, his belief is its chain; it is the voice in his head that says Hurry, says Faster, says Run.

Related Characters: Simon Gold, The Fortune Teller/Bruna Costello, Robert, Gali
Page Number: 77
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

In the final piece, The Myth of Icarus, Simon will perform his first starring role: he is Icarus, and Robert is the Sun.

On opening night, he soars around Robert. He orbits closer. He wears a pair of large wings, made of wax and feathers, like those Daedalus fashioned for Icarus. The physics of dancing with twenty pounds on his back compounds his dizziness, so he is grateful when Robert removes them, even though this means that they have melted, and that Simon, as Icarus, will die.

Related Characters: Simon Gold, Robert
Page Number: 83
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

Robert paces the apartment. “We need to stay here,” he says. They have enough food for two weeks. Neither of them has slept in days.

But Simon is panicked by the thought of quarantine. He already feels cut off from the world, and he refuses to hide, refuses to believe this is the end. He’s not dead yet. And yet he knows, of course he knows, or at least he fears—the thin line between fear and intuition; how one so easily masquerades as the other—that the woman is right, and that by June 21st, the first day of summer, he’ll be gone, too.

Related Characters: Simon Gold, Varya Gold, The Fortune Teller/Bruna Costello, Robert
Page Number: 88
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“I wish—I wish…”

“Don’t wish it. Look what she gave me.”

“This!” says Klara, looking at the lesions on his arms, his sharp ribs. Even his blond mane has thinned: after an aide helps him bathe, the drain is matted with curls.

“No,” says Simon, “this,” and he points at the window. “I would never have come to San Francisco if it weren’t for her. I wouldn’t have met Robert. I’d never have learned how to dance. I’d probably still be home, waiting for my life to begin.”

Related Characters: Simon Gold (speaker), Klara Gold (speaker), The Fortune Teller/Bruna Costello, Robert
Page Number: 98
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 35 Quotes

“The thought that you could die from sex,” Varya says, haltingly. “You weren’t terrified?”

“No, not then. Because it didn’t feel that way. When doctors said we should be celibate, it didn’t feel like they were telling us to choose between sex and death. It felt like they were asking us to choose between death and life. And no one who worked that hard to live life authentically, to have sex authentically, was willing to give it up.”

Related Characters: Varya Gold (speaker), Simon Gold, Robert
Page Number: 332
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Immortalists PDF

Robert Quotes in The Immortalists

The The Immortalists quotes below are all either spoken by Robert or refer to Robert. 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:
Fate vs. Choice Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

It occurs to Simon that he would like to have a life like this: a career, a house, a partner. He’s always assumed that these things are not for him—that he’s designed for something less lucky, less straight. In truth, it is not only Simon’s gayness that makes him feel this way. It’s the prophecy, too, something he would very much like to forget but has instead dragged behind him all these years. He hates the woman for giving it to him, and he hates himself for believing her. If the prophecy is a ball, his belief is its chain; it is the voice in his head that says Hurry, says Faster, says Run.

Related Characters: Simon Gold, The Fortune Teller/Bruna Costello, Robert, Gali
Page Number: 77
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

In the final piece, The Myth of Icarus, Simon will perform his first starring role: he is Icarus, and Robert is the Sun.

On opening night, he soars around Robert. He orbits closer. He wears a pair of large wings, made of wax and feathers, like those Daedalus fashioned for Icarus. The physics of dancing with twenty pounds on his back compounds his dizziness, so he is grateful when Robert removes them, even though this means that they have melted, and that Simon, as Icarus, will die.

Related Characters: Simon Gold, Robert
Page Number: 83
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

Robert paces the apartment. “We need to stay here,” he says. They have enough food for two weeks. Neither of them has slept in days.

But Simon is panicked by the thought of quarantine. He already feels cut off from the world, and he refuses to hide, refuses to believe this is the end. He’s not dead yet. And yet he knows, of course he knows, or at least he fears—the thin line between fear and intuition; how one so easily masquerades as the other—that the woman is right, and that by June 21st, the first day of summer, he’ll be gone, too.

Related Characters: Simon Gold, Varya Gold, The Fortune Teller/Bruna Costello, Robert
Page Number: 88
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“I wish—I wish…”

“Don’t wish it. Look what she gave me.”

“This!” says Klara, looking at the lesions on his arms, his sharp ribs. Even his blond mane has thinned: after an aide helps him bathe, the drain is matted with curls.

“No,” says Simon, “this,” and he points at the window. “I would never have come to San Francisco if it weren’t for her. I wouldn’t have met Robert. I’d never have learned how to dance. I’d probably still be home, waiting for my life to begin.”

Related Characters: Simon Gold (speaker), Klara Gold (speaker), The Fortune Teller/Bruna Costello, Robert
Page Number: 98
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 35 Quotes

“The thought that you could die from sex,” Varya says, haltingly. “You weren’t terrified?”

“No, not then. Because it didn’t feel that way. When doctors said we should be celibate, it didn’t feel like they were telling us to choose between sex and death. It felt like they were asking us to choose between death and life. And no one who worked that hard to live life authentically, to have sex authentically, was willing to give it up.”

Related Characters: Varya Gold (speaker), Simon Gold, Robert
Page Number: 332
Explanation and Analysis: