Minor Characters, and How They Affect the Story

There are several characters that enter in and out of Sam and Joe's lives, and a lot of them play large roles in their decisions. In this entry, I will talk in particular about Rosa Saks, and Bernard Kornblum.

While not exactly a minor character, Rosa Saks plays a large supporting role in the both the lives of Sam and Joe. Her first meeting with the cousins was abrupt and awkward: Joe saw her naked in bed as he was trying to break into an apartment. He runs into her again later at a party, where she recognizes him, but cannot quite remember how. They introduce themselves, and after a few minutes of discussion, a cry for help is heard. Joe immediately runs downstairs to see Salvador Dali's head stuck in a helmet of a diving. Joe immediately sets to work, twisting a bolt off with the screwdriver component of his knife, saving Salvador's life. Recognizing Joe's quick and serious action, Rosa remembers where she had met him before. She asks him to her art studio, which is actually her room. It is here that she truly connect with Joe, and they start a relationship. Prior to this event, Joe had been working non-stop on his job. Now that he had a girlfriend, he could truly lay back, relax a little bit, and enjoy life more. She directly inspires Joe to focus more on surreal art, as opposed to his previous, harsher and more systematic style. This refueled Joe's passion for art and drawing comics, as he was exploring a fascinating new outlet. Later again, Rosa sympathizes with Sam's loneliness, and suggests that he get himself a girlfriend. Under this pressure and emptiness, Sam decides to take his first available chance at a relationship, which happens to be with Tracy Bacon. This leads to Sam exploring his sexuality throughout the novel. Rosa opens both men up, and builds them up from within, ultimately making them both stronger.

Bernard Kornblum was Joe's childhood instructor in the art of escapism. Joe was intrigued by Houdini and magic in general, and decided to pursue learning about both. After several trial and error instructors, Joe finally settles upon the old, and vastly experienced Kornblum. Kornblum employs a very gradual, deliberate form of training upon Joe, making it clear that he needs to be serious about becoming an escape artist. He eventually presents Joe with a lock picking kit, telling him that he can keep it if he can remove a series of locks from a chair that Kornblum is chained to. Joe is successful, and after more practice with the tools, he becomes determined to prove him self to a society of magicians he has been trying to make it into. After a near death experience when his stunt goes wrong, Kornblum is convinced that Joe is trying to escape in a much more metaphorical sense than a physical one. Later, when Joe fails to make it out of Prague after his family gave up all that they owned, he has nowhere else to turn, so he visits Kornblum seeking help. They devise a complex plan that eventually does get Joe to America. Joe is thankful towards Kornblum, and respects him in a high manner. He is well aware that he is only in America now due to Kornblum's assistance, both in escaping and building Joe into a stronger, wiser man.