60 pages • 2 hours read
Cornelia FunkeThe Thief Lord
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2000A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Prospero Hartlieb (Prosper)
Prosper is the protagonist of the novel and the gang’s moral compass; a large percentage of the book unfolds in his point of view. At the beginning of the novel, he’s a 12-year-old boy who must suddenly take over caring for his brother, Bo, after his mother’s death. Prosper does not resent the responsibility; he loves his brother and doesn’t want to be separated from him by his aunt and uncle, so he runs away with Bo to Venice. He joins the Thief Lord’s crew to support his brother and finds a home in the Stella with the other children, but he doubts whether he did the right thing bringing Bo to the city. The boys’ aunt and uncle are wealthy and might’ve taken better care of Bo, and he is worried about Bo learning to steal. His doubts reflect the selflessness of his love for his brother—he wants the best for Bo, even at a cost to himself—as well as his strong sense of morality. Prosper himself tries to avoid becoming involved in the gang’s thieving and has conflicted feelings about ending up being the best loot seller.
Prosper’s moral compass often keeps the group in check. When Barbarossa offers the Thief Lord a job, Prosper doesn’t have a good feeling about it and tries to convince Scipio not to do it. Once Scipio agrees to do it, Prosper is loyal to him but steadfastly refuses to help with the theft. Similarly, Prosper’s moral qualms about the gang’s activities don’t stop him from trying to protect them: When Victor finds the Stella, Prosper offers to leave with Bo so the others can keep their home.
Prosper’s character arc frequently contrasts with Scipio’s, demonstrating the distinction between Coming of Age Versus Wanting to Grow Up. Although Prosper too regrets his young age, he is quite mature even as the novel begins. His interest in riding the merry-go-round stems entirely from the fact that as an adult, Prosper could be Bo’s caretaker. However, Prosper ultimately decides not to rush growing up. He reunites with Bo having stayed true to himself.
Boniface Hartlieb (Bo)
Bo is Prosper’s five-year-old brother. Bo is absolutely devoted to Prosper, but he also idolizes Scipio. His fascination with Scipio reflects his youth and naivete: He’s so young that he sees living in an abandoned movie theater and stealing as an adventure. Likewise, he is overly trusting, giving away his name and the location of their hideout to Victor simply because Victor seems nice. To Prosper’s chagrin, Bo also doesn’t want to be left behind by the older children and ultimately tags along on the robbery at Ida’s.
When the police take Bo to Esther and Max, Bo is upset at the separation from Prosper and acts out, pulling a tablecloth to the floor, screaming, biting Max, and finally running away. Bo’s behavior makes Esther relinquish her guardianship, which reunites Bo and Prosper. Prosper thought he was the one who had to save Bo, but Bo saves himself in the end and ensures the brothers can stay together, showing their strong sibling bond and the resourcefulness that even very young children are capable of.
Scipio Massimo (the Thief Lord)
Scipio is the Thief Lord. He’s the son of the very wealthy and powerful Dottor Massimo, who treats Scipio like he’s an annoyance. Scipio hates being powerless, so he creates the persona of the Thief Lord and takes care of children who have nowhere else to go. The outfit he dons as part of this persona makes him feel older and more capable, allowing him to escape his identity as Scipio.
When the others realize that Scipio lied to them, they feel betrayed. However, Scipio relies just as much on their friendship as they do on his, and the gang’s rejection of him wounds him deeply. He repeatedly tries to win them back over and even intercedes on their behalf with his father when the police take Hornet.
Scipio uses the merry-go-round to become an adult so that he can be free and make his own decisions. He regrets his decision for a moment when Barbarossa breaks the carousel: “I’m a grown-up forever now—you’ve ruined it for me” (288). Scipio has always dreamed of growing up, but when he no longer has the option to become a child again, he must decide if he’s happy with his decision. In fact, when he first returns to Venice, Scipio finds adult life boring and is disappointed when Victor tells him adults eat, sleep, and work. He decides to become a detective, satisfying his need for both independence and adventure. That he adopts the last name Fortunato, “the fortunate one,” suggests he is happy with the life he now has.
Victor Getz
Victor is the detective whom Max and Esther Hartlieb hire to find their nephews. He has misgivings from the start—he doesn’t like the couple’s attitude—but he also doesn’t want the boys to be alone on the streets of Venice. In addition to being compassionate, Victor is playful; he compares finding the boys to a game of hide-and-seek and mentions that he too ran away as a child.
This empathy and childlike adventurousness set Victor up to understand the boys in a way their aunt and uncle do not. The more Victor investigates, the more Prosper and Bo’s strong bond impresses him. He ultimately lies to the Hartliebs and tells them Prosper and Bo left Venice; his conscience won’t allow him to give the couple the boys if it means separating them. Victor consequently feels guilty that his photo of the boys enables the Hartliebs to find Bo. When Esther tells him Bo has run away and that she doesn’t want him anymore, Victor is furious that Esther isn’t concerned about Bo being alone in the city at night. It’s Victor who finds Bo and brings him to Ida’s.
Victor is one of the book’s most sympathetic adult characters because he advocates for and protects children while also respecting them. He doesn’t agree with Riccio keeping counterfeit money, but he doesn’t confiscate it either. He ends the book with Scipio as his detective assistant, happy to hand the reins over to a younger man.
Ernesto Barbarossa
Barbarossa is the primary antagonist. He’s introduced when Prosper and Riccio bargain with him to sell loot. Prosper gets Barbarossa to pay more than he normally would, but Barbarossa also deducts money for a glass beetle he falsely claims Bo broke. Recognizing that Barbarossa is a cheat, Prosper is suspicious when Barbarossa claims to have a client seeking the Thief Lord’s services. Scipio takes the job anyway, but the fact that the client won’t trust Barbarossa with the details of what he wants stolen or the location of the exchange further establishes Barbarossa’s untrustworthiness.
However, it is only when Barbarossa shows up on the Isola Segreta that he emerges as more than a petty criminal. There, Barbarossa poisons the dogs and demands a ride on the merry-go-round. Scipio tricks him and he ends up as a little boy about Bo’s age. Although Barbarossa is furious at this turn of events, he finds ways to manipulate and cheat others even as a child. The gang tricks Esther into adopting Barbarossa, who adopts an angelic demeanor to con his way into a life of luxury. When Esther finds out the truth about Barbarossa, she sends him to boarding school, but he makes his way there as well, bossing the other children around and calling himself the Thief Lord.
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By Cornelia Funke
