Esio Trot

The author initially depicts everything about Mr. Hoppy as plain and sad. He lives in a “small flat high up in a tall concrete building” (9). There are no natural ornamentations in his view, and Dahl gives no descriptions of Mr. Hoppy’s likes and dislikes beyond his passions for Mrs. Silver and his flowers. He is characterized primarily by his loneliness: “He had always been a lonely man and now that he was retired from work, he was more lonely than ever” (9). There is no sign that anyone needs Mr. Hoppy for anything, which gives him a sense of purposelessness.

Mr. Hoppy is a retired mechanic, which gives some clues about his probable skillset, aptitude, and ingenuity. These skills are apparent once he crafts his tortoise-lifting device. He also claims to have once worked in North Africa, which means it is possible that he has not always been limited to his small apartment and the garage where he worked. However, the only mention of his time in North Africa is when he claims it’s where he gained his (alleged) knowledge of tortoises.

The only love that he can access at the story’s beginning is his flowers. They are beautiful and fragile in his staid environment. They require nurturing in a building in which other responsibilities are managed by the landlord. He gives them the kind of attention he wishes he was brave enough to give to Mrs. Silver, whom he loves desperately. However, he is so shy that he can’t talk to her: “He had loved her from his balcony for many years, but he was a very shy man and he had never been able to give her even the smallest hint of his love” (10). This sort of longing, and the sense of distance, is reminiscent of pastoral or picaresque novels like Don Quixote, in which the idea of courtly love—in which one ill-fated lover cannot have the other—causes immense psychological pain.

Mr. Hoppy, for all his meekness, also has a jealous streak, which he only directs at Alfie, whom Mrs. Silver is always petting: “It was at times like these that Mr. Hoppy wished more than ever that he could change places with Alfie” (15). These descriptions of Mr. Hoppy’s longing are played for comic effect, but they also speak to a profound sadness. Mr. Hoppy is so in love, and so in need of companionship, that he would rather become a limited tortoise that gets physical contact than be a human being with agency and options. Getting what he wants as a human requires more courage than he has, until the events of Esio Trot.

Mr. Hoppy is also patient. Combined with cleverness and an audacious streak that contradicts his shyness, his meticulous plan is the very definition of overkill. His shyness may have prevented him from talking to Mrs. Silver for years, but he is willing to collect, weigh, and store 140 tortoises if it will help him gain what his shyness has prevented. His plan to win Mrs. Silver also requires the invention of the tortoise catcher, weeks of measurements, and the sacrifice of his living room.

Ultimately, even in a sentimental story, Mr. Hoppy is not without flaws. He wins Mrs. Silver’s love, but only through artifice. His love for her is genuine, but his approach to winning her heart requires many types of lying. There is no reason to suspect that he will be anything but loving and devoted, but only he knows the truth about the real start of their relationship.

Mr. Hoppy’s name also has relevant connotations. “Hoppy” is very close to the word “Happy,” but the one letter changes the meaning drastically. Hoppy brings rabbits to mind, particularly in an inverted context with the tale of the “Tortoise and the Hare,” in which a patient approach leads the tortoise to win the race against the hare.