Abel Rosnovski - A Character Analysis

Abel Rosnovski(Kane and Abel) A Character Analysis

               If you have, by any chance, read Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer, you would have surely come across a character by name Abel Rosnovski. Afterall he is one of the two protagonists in the story and its highly impossible that you miss him. Having said that, this character was a completely different one from other characters that Jeffrey Archer normally creates.
Abel Rosnovski, formerly called Wladek, is born in a rural part of Poland, and is immediately abandoned by his mother. He is then adopted by a passer-by, and his new motehr already has 3 children of her own. The father finds it hard to feed everyone, and most days, they live on one meal. He is sent to learn along with the Baron's child, as the Baron's child feels lonely. That is when Poland comes under attack, and Wladek loses both his friend and his sister in various situations. He is then imprisoned in the Baron's castle along with the Baron. The Baron grows old and dies. Everyone loses hope of an escape, but not Wladek. How he escapes from the dungeon, how he gets to safety and how he becomes one of the richest and most powerful persons are all a treat to read.
            Its hard to tell if he is a good or bad guy. One moment, you feel he is a honest and truthful person and come the next page, you feel he is a tyrant seeking vengeance and blood.

            He packs such determination in whatever he does, that you feel as if he could do nothing wrong. Probably, his childhood struggle in the war-torn Poland, his consequent life in the slave camp would have manned him up. This man could do anything he wants and never once looks back.

          He also has a softer side to him that is evident in the way he adores his mentor. He seethes in anger at the sad demise of him and vows revenge on the guy who caused it, however indirect it seemed to be. He even falls in love, but that turns out to be just an infatuation. Or maybe, it could be interpreted in another way. His love standing in the way of his success and hence he had to sacrifice his love. Such was his passion for success and vengeance, that romance and love hardly mattered.

            What also impressed me was that he was a master when it came to management and money-making, though he hardly received any proper education. They say, 'Experience is the best teacher'. This saying is so true when it comes to Abel Rosnovski. His childhood, though a troubled one, only serves to make him better and more determined to exceed. As a child, he witnesses his sister raped by enemy soldiers. He witnesses his well-wisher, the Baron grow old and die in a dungeon of his own castle. He is separated from his mother and father and made to work in slave camps. He nearly loses his hand for stealing. Now, when you have such a terrible childhood, your life could easily turn out to be a nightmare, haunted by your childhood ghosts. But that was not the case with this man. What he did different was that he accepted the reality, but never once stopped believing that he could change it. That was the driving force behind his successful career and life.

           He also had a deep patriotism for his motherland and was moved,when he sees the condition of his dear-old land shred to pieces after the war. He also loved his family. But he hated Kane and wished him death. The hatred never died even after growing old. When the truth finally dawns of him, he is nothing but an old man, withered and softened by years. He immediately realizes his mistake and tries to get rid of his sins.

          To sum it up, Abel has everything. Determination, love, sympathy, joy, sorrow, anger, disappointment - you name it, and he has got it.

Abel Rosnovski is such a power character created by Jeffrey Archer, and will live with  us forever.

To read the review of Kane and Abel, please see this link.
http://giribookworld.blogspot.in/2013/09/kane-and-abel-jeffrey-archer.html