Characterization of Jola Hobotnica

Jola Hobotnica is the main character in the short story “Legacy” by PR Woods. She works for a charity organization that raises funds to protect the ocean ecosystem. Jola is currently “Manager of Legacies and Gifts in Wills” (l. 23). She is from Krk, an island in Croatia, and has a teenaged son, Rory. She used to be involved with her boss, Alistair, who eventually broke up with her and started dating Jola’s colleague and rival, Martina.

Jola is homesick and wishes to return to Croatia. However, she does not have the means to go there for good and believes that she needs to resort to drastic measures in order to fulfil her wish. This leads her to come up with a plan that involves poisoning her clients after they have signed cheques that she can cash in after they die.

One of Jola’s main traits is her bitterness towards Martina. She considers Martina her “nemesis” (l. 41) and resents her because she works in a department that allows her to bring in a lot of donations. Jola is also jealous of Martina because her former boyfriend, Alastair, has chosen Martina instead of her. Therefore, another reason why Jola wants to poison her clients is that this will help her bring in more funds than Martina. 

When Jola receives the envelopes informing her of her clients’ deaths, she notices how “M...