Characters
The story “Enoch” by Robert Bloch features several characters: Seth, Enoch, the sheriff and his helper, Dr. Silversmith, and district attorney Edwin Cassidy. The most important characters in the story are Seth, Enoch, and Edwin Cassidy. We will deal with some of the other characters in the social setting section, as they are relevant for the social typologies they convey.…
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Seth
Seth is the narrator of the story and the main character. According to his outer characterization, he is unattractive— a “scarecrow” (p. 29, l. 19) and poor, and lives alone in a shack in the swamps. His mother was killed when he was a child, and the identity of his father is unknown.
Inner characterization
Seth’s inner characterization is conveyed through his narration which presents his actions and his perspective on the events he experiences.
Initially, Seth presents himself as a powerless victim of Enoch. His head is inhabited by evil Enoch and he cannot do anything to get rid of Enoch or resist him: “I can't see him. I can't catch him. I can only feel him, and hear him, and obey him.” (p. 29, ll. 37-38)
After several attempts to catch or resist Enoch, Seth has given up trying to defeat the creature and submits to Enoch’s will. The fact that Enoch’s rewards—dreams that give Seth everything he wants—please Seth suggests that he suffers from being rejected by society: “People laugh at me and say I have no friends; the girls in town used to call me ‘scarecrow.’ Yet sometimes—after I've done his bidding—he brings the riches of the world to me.” (p. 29, ll. 17-21)
This might suggest that Enoch is really a figment of Seth’s imagination, a twisted way to deal with the lonely life he has and to take revenge on people for rejecting him. This interpretation is upheld by Seth’s story about his mother giving Enoch to him so that he would no longer feel lonely: “Enoch protected me, just as my mother had planned, because she knew I couldn't get along alone.” (p. 31, ll. 23-25)
The way Seth describes killing people under Enoch’s directions suggests that he wants to relieve himself of any responsibility for the murders. Furthermore, we sense that Seth admires Enoch for knowing everything about the victims and protecting him: “I don't know how …
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Enoch
Enoch is a tiny creature that lives on the top of Seth’s head. We do not know for sure if he is real, although the fact that Edwin Cassidy also hears him seems to suggest that he is.
His name can be interpreted as an ironical symbol because in the Bible Enoch is a descendant of Seth (Adam and Eve’s third child) and he is supposed to be one of the first humans to be turned into an angel. In the story, he is the opposite of an angel, an evil creature.
His outer characterization tells us that he was created or brought to life by Seth’s mother, that he is tiny and has claws (p. 28, ll. 36), that he is able to whisper in Seth’s ear but nobody else can see or hear him. Occasionally, the narrator gives readers some details about his appearance and habits: “I felt him resting very lightly on top of my skull, burrowed down under a blanket of hair, clinging to my curls and sleeping as peaceful as a baby.” (p. 30, ll. 4-8); “…a sort of a white streak that came flashing out of the big red hole he had eaten in the back of Mr. Cassidy's skull.” (p. 35, ll. 22-24)
Inner characterization
Enoch’s inner characterization is conveyed using Seth’s perspective, along with the words that he supposedly whispers in Seth’s ear.
According to Seth, Enoch is a powerful, dangerous creature who is able to manipulate him into murdering people using threats and rewa…
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Edwin Cassidy
Edwin Cassidy is a secondary character in the short story, who appears in the second part of the text. However, he is important for the way he treats Seth and his reaction when discovering Enoch is real.
Cassidy’s outer characterization informs us that he is a general attorney and gives us a brief physical portrait: “He had a big, fat smiling face, and nice eyes.” (p. 32, ll. 8-9)
Inner characterization
Cassidy’s inner characterization is conveyed through his attitude to Seth and Enoch. When he comes to visit Seth in jail, he treats him kindly and comes across as cheerful and friendly, although he is the prosecutor: “ ‘Hello, Seth,’ he said, very friendly. ‘Having a little snooze?’ ” (p. 32, ll. 10-11); “ ‘Why Seth,’ Mr. Cassidy laughed, ‘I'm not afraid of you. I know you didn't mean to kill anybody.’ ” (p. 32, ll. 31-33)
However, Cassidy’s friendly attitude is only a manipulative strategy to get Seth to conf…
