Switching Personalities

Having only read to page 125 of "The White Castle" I do not know the ending, but I am endlessly intrigued by the switching personalities between the narrator and Hoja. I have noticed that every time one of the characters looks into a mirror or a portrait they realize how much they have changed. Hoja and the narrator have swapped roles and personalities several times throughout the story in this fashion. Because they look so much alike, it seems at times they are the same person with a series of dramatic mood swings. At one point Hoja thinks he is dying of the plague, he looks in the mirror and realizes his mysterious resemblance to the narrator. They decide to switch places so the narrator can become a free man and Hoja will die peacefully. Before this point, the narrator served only as Hoja's slave of sorts.

However, Hoja does not die and later meet back up the the narrator when they both end up working for the Sultan. At first Hoja deals only with the Sultan and the leaves the narrator home working endlessly. Then the roles shift and suddenly the Sultan would rather learn from the narrator, leaving Hoja at home. This marks a profound change in our narrator. He attends parties, eats luxury foods and shows off his new power and knowledge. The narrator finally realizes his transformation while gazing at a portrait of himself some months later to find himself overweight and much older. At this moment he realizes he has made the final jump into his new self, no one from his former life can recognize him.

Interestingly enough, this time when the narrator's appearance is least like Hoja's is also the time when he realizes he enjoys his life. He states, "...I learned that life was to be enjoyed, not endured"(117). the narrator has finally found his true identity and separated himself as much as he can from Hoja.