1. In "The Great Carbuncle," there are eight characters. The first character is the Seeker who is the oldest of them all. He is about sixty years old and has been searching for the Great Carbuncle since he was very young. The Seeker wore skins of wild animals for clothing. The whole reason the Seeker wanted to seek the jewel was for the challenge of the pursuit. This was his strength. As he grew old he no longer enjoyed the search. He said, "I hope for no enjoyment from it- that folly has passed long ago! I keep up the search for this accursed stone, because the vain ambition of my youth has become a fate upon me in old age" (p.13). The Seeker intended to find the Great Carbuncle and go to a "certain" cavern and hold it in his arms and just lie down and die. The jewel would then be with him forever. His purpose was ignoble.
             Dr. Cacaphodel was an elderly man who wore a high-crowned hat like a chemist. He was wrinkled and dried up looking because he spent so much time near charcoal furnaces and inhaling fumes when he was doing research in chemistry and alchemy. Dr. Cacaphodel wanted to find the gem for two reasons. Firstly, he wanted people to recognize his great scientific achievement and secondly, he wanted to grind part of it to powder, dissolve part of it in acids and melt the rest of it in order to study it and write a book about the results of his research. His purpose for seeking the Great Carbuncle was ignoble. It is evident that he just wanted to lift himself up in his own pride when he said, "the prize is reserved to crown my scientific reputation" (p.13).
             Master Ichabod Pigsnort was a merchant from Boston. He was an elder of the famous Mr. Norton's church and he was very wealthy and greedy. His search for the Great Carbuncle was for an ignoble purpose because he only wanted to sell it to the highest bidder for a good profit. He wanted to pour his gain into his own self.
             ...