Lullo / Ryzak’s Grandson Character Analysis in An Imaginary Life

Lullo is Ryzak’s grandson and the young woman’s son. Although Ovid briefly teaches Lullo some Latin, when the Child joins the village, Ovid shifts his attention to the new boy. Lullo resents both Ovid and the Child because of this. When the Child comes down with a terrible fever during the winter, it passes to Lullo, leading the old woman to believe that the Child’s demon is trying to steal Lullo’s soul. However, Lullo recovers.

Lullo / Ryzak’s Grandson Character Timeline in An Imaginary Life

The timeline below shows where the character Lullo / Ryzak’s Grandson appears in An Imaginary Life. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...entire winters. He lives with the village headman and the headman’s elderly mother, daughter-in-law, and grandson. Ovid thinks these people are “barbarian[s],” but they are kind enough, largely ignoring his presence. (full context)

...daughter-in-law sews strips of animal hide together. The headman repairs a fishing net, telling his grandson a story while he works. Ovid cannot understand the words, but believes he recognizes the... (full context)

...passes into another spring. Ovid understands the “crude tongue” of Tomis now. He teaches Ryzak’s grandson bits of Latin, though the boy takes little interest in it. Ovid listens to Ryzak... (full context)

...that the Child has a bestial spirit, and they refuse to come near him. Ryzak’s grandson, Lullo, spreads the rumor that the Child is covered in hair and has hooves. Ovid... (full context)

Childhood, Fate, and Identity Theme Icon

...task will fall only to him, since the women will not touch the Child and Lullo should be kept away from him. (full context)

...antagonistic toward Ovid and the Child, though she will not practice witchcraft directly against them. Lullo, too, resents not only the Child, but Ovid, since Lullo is no longer the center... (full context)

...climb it. He scratches at his own face. Ovid and Ryzak look on, saddened, while Lullo shakes with fear. Ovid feels heavy with guilt and a sense of the separation between... (full context)

...fever is a result of the Child’s demon struggling to break free of his body. Lullo’s mother, the young woman, is sympathetic at first and gives the Child food and water,... (full context)

...sign that the Child’s demon has “snatched away another soul” and taken the place of Lullo. (full context)

The old woman curses Lullo’s mother for exposing him to danger, setting her into a panic. The old woman strips... (full context)

Lullo’s mother accepts the old woman’s suspicion that the Child passed his illness on to Lullo,... (full context)

...his control of the household; the old woman now reigns. She claims “her magic” saved Lullo’s life and Ryzak must agree, since he himself had no solution for the illness. Ovid... (full context)