The White Horses of Vienna (Characters)

Characters

The Doctor

The unnamed doctor is an elderly man and a longtime Nazi sympathizer. He believes that people should actively express their political beliefs; he works with a band of men who burn swastikas atop the mountains to show their desire for Austria ’s allegiance with Nazi Germany.

Unlike his wife and despite his political leanings, he does not openly display any prejudice against Dr. Heine. When his wife complains about having a Jewish man in her house, he reminds her that Dr. Heine comes highly recommended and seems amiable. However, his fundamental disdain for the Jew reveals itself subtly throughout the story.

Superficially, the doctor seems to be a thoughtful, worldly, and artistic man. However, he uses his charm, good reputation, and obvious intelligence to promote Nazi ideology. For instance, his puppets are used to express his political beliefs in the form of a puppet show. His political demonstrations are known by the Austrian police; he has already been arrested for his activities, and at the end of the story is arrested again.

The Doctor ’s Wife

The unnamed doctor ’s wife is a capable woman. A former nurse, she assists her husband with his patients. She is also anti-Semitic and believes that all Jews are greedy and obsessed with money. She is disturbed to have Dr. Heine in her house, yet tolerates him.

Heine

Dr. Heine is a young Jewish student-doctor from Vienna. Not a political man, he is interested primarily in intellectual and artistic matters. He does not realize that the doctor ’s wife is anti-Semitic and that the doctor is a supporter of the Nazis. However, while he commends the doctor for the artistic aspect of his puppet shows, he does not realize that the play the doctor stages represents the political situation between Austria and Nazi Germany. On a larger scale, Dr. Heine does not understand the import of the Nazi activity in Austria and how it might affect his own life.

Dr. Heine

See Heine

The Student-Doctor

See Heine