Nathaniel (Bartimaeus trilogy)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nathaniel is a character in Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy. Nathaniel is one of the main characters of this series. After coming of age as a magician when he was 12 years old, he was granted the new name of John Mandrake.
Contents |
[edit] Role in The Amulet of Samarkand
In The Amulet Of Samarkand, Nathaniel starts off as a young boy who, at the age of five, had been given up by his parents to apprenticeship under a mediocre Whitehall magician named Arthur Underwood. Underwood begins teaching the boy in magic, but Nathaniel, being curious and inquisitive, decides to advance his education to higher levels without the knowledge of his tutor.
However, at the age of ten, in his master's house, Nathaniel is publicly humiliated by a greedy and ambitious young fellow magician named Simon Lovelace. In a fit of juvenile fury, Nathaniel hatches a plan for vengeance.
Nathaniel summons Bartimaeus, a 5,000-year-old djinni to exact his revenge on Lovelace. Mrs. Underwood - Nathaniel's master's wife - inadvertently gives out his real name to Bartimaeus. This vastly limits Nathaniel's control over the djinni, who can launch counterspells incorporating Nathaniel's name.
In the end, he earns the respect of the majority of the other magicians, including Rupert Devereaux, the Prime Minister. He is accepted as a magician in the government.
[edit] Role in Ptolemy's Gate
In the final book of the series, Nathaniel, risen to the ruling Council, is faced by a massive revolt of magicians and spirits together, led by Nouda, a spirit of awesome power who can not even be defeated by the legendary Gladstone's staff. The best efforts of Nathaniel, Bartimaeus and Kitty working together reluctantly will not be enough to stop Nouda without a supreme sacrifice (i.e. death). During the course of the book, Nathaniel rejects his magician name of John Mandrake and the shallow lifestyle he adopted to rise in the government, and goes back to the more selfless persona of Nathaniel. Mutual romantic feelings are hinted at in the book at various points between Kitty and himself. At one point, Bartimaeus states how Nathaniel had thoughts that "...if Kitty only knew!"
[edit] Death
In Ptolemy's Gate, Nathaniel selflessly sacrifices himself to save London, Kitty and Bartimaeus. He broke Gladstone's Staff by casting the Dismissal on Bartimaeus, triggering the Staff and ultimately destroys the Glass Palace along with him and Nouda.
[edit] Trivia
- Nathanial's chosen magician name, John Mandrake, may be a reference to the popular comic strip and real life magician, Mandrake the Magician
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- The Amulet of Samarkand ISBN 0552551577
- The Golem's Eye ISBN 038560615X
- Ptolemy's Gate ISBN 0385608683
| Bartimaeus Trilogy | |
|---|---|
| Books | The Amulet of Samarkand | The Golem's Eye | Ptolemy's Gate |
| Main characters | Nathaniel | Bartimaeus | Kitty Jones |
| Other topics | Magic in the Bartimaeus trilogy | Characters of the Bartimaeus trilogy |
