The Princess Bride Inigo Characteristics

There are many determined characters in classic literature. One such persona is in William Goldman’s novel The Princess Bride. This character, Inigo, shows throughout the novel that he is a driven person.
Inigo, the fencing Spaniard, is driven because of a horrible tragedy which occurred when Inigo was only 10-years-old. A year before the tragedy, a nobleman asked Domingo Montoya, Inigo’s father, to make him a sword because Domingo was the greatest sword maker in the world. At first Domingo refused, even when he was offered 500 pieces of gold. However, when Domingo discovered that the nobleman had six-fingers on his fencing hand, Domingo became excited. Domingo realized making this particular sword would be a challenge that he would relish.

It was the challenge and not the 500 gold pieces that made Domingo accept the nobleman’s offer. Since the nobleman insisted on leaving money as an initial payment, Domingo asked for only one gold piece. For the following year, Domingo slaved over the sword. When it was finished, Domingo considered the sword a piece of art and himself an artist, finally. When the day finally came for the nobleman to collect his new sword, the six-fingered aristocrat tried to bargain about the amount the sword was worth. The nobleman said it was not worth 500 gold pieces so he only offered Domingo 10 gold pieces instead. Enraged the nobleman tried to haggle about the price instead of appreciating art, Domingo told the nobleman, “’Beauty was here for the taking and you saw only your fat purse’” (131). He also told the nobleman that he would now give the sword to his son Inigo. When the six-fingered man insisted that Domingo give him the sword, Domingo said, “’You’re an enemy of art and I pity your innocence’” (131). Insulted by the peasant, the six-fingered nobleman used his sword to tear out Domingo’s heart.

Inigo was bewildered by the event that took place in front of him, and he could not stop screaming. Then twenty men from the village came to the door because they heard Inigo’s screams. The nobleman then attempted to convince the men that Domingo attacked him. When the nobleman mounted his horse, Inigo challenged him to a duel. It was not much of a battle for Inigo was unarmed in less than a minute. However, instead of killing Inigo, the nobleman flashed his blade twice and left Inigo with “two rivers of blood that poured from his forehead to his chin, one crossing each cheek” (133). Inigo was scarred for life. As the blood continued to pour from Inigo’s cheeks, the nobleman remounted his horse and rode away. Soon after, Inigo moved to Madrid so he could live with Yeste, Domingo’s friend and Madrid’s most famous sword maker. For two years, Yeste took care of Inigo. Then Inigo left one morning, leaving Yeste only a note with the words “’I must learn’” (134). From that point, Inigo was driven to do whatever he had to defeat the six-fingered nobleman and avenge his father’s murder. As far as Inigo was concerned, killing the six-fingered man was now the only thing that mattered. He was now on a mission, a mission that would

require his persistence and relentless determination. In Inigo’s mind, failing to revenge his father’s murder simply was not an option. With perseverance, Inigo would achieve his goal no matter what the cost.
One time that Inigo showed he was driven to avenge his father’s death was when he returned to see Yeste 10 years after Inigo had left. The now 22-year-old Inigo told Yeste that he had spent the past 10 years learning to become an extraordinary fencer. Inigo estimated he spent 72,000 hours in the past decade doing various tasks so he could one day defeat the six-fingered man. These tasks included squeezing “‘rocks like apples... I would squeeze them in each hand for perhaps two hours a day’” (136). Inigo said he also spent “‘two hours a day in skipping and dodging and moving quickly, so that my feet would be able to get me into position to deliver properly the thrust of the sword’” (136). Not only would he skip and dodge, but he would also “‘always sprint two hours each day as fast as I could, so my legs, as well as being quick, would also be as strong’” (136). The remainder of the 72,000 hours was spent being taught fencing, according to Inigo, “‘wherever I could find a master’” (136). Since Yeste knew about swords and swordsmen, Inigo returned to find out if Yeste thought he was ready to duel the six-fingered man, a master swordsman. Inigo told Yeste, “‘you must not lie. Am I ready? If you say I am, I will seek him through the world. If you say no, I will spend another ten years and another ten after that, if that is needed’” (137). Inigo is driven because he had the determination to spend 72,000 hours of the past 10 years practicing the art of fencing. This practice included Inigo spending six hours each day practicing sword control and positioning as well as building up his speed by sprinting. To stick to such a grueling regimen showed Inigo’s relentless perseverance. Besides this, Inigo also traveled to wherever he could be taught fencing by the world’s master swordsmen. Obviously Inigo was fueled by a persistence to learn and become not just a good fencer, but a master fencer. This would allow him to achieve his ultimate goal of killing the six-fingered man and avenging his father’s death. Inigo made this clear when he told Yeste he was willing to spend another 10 years training and even another 10 years if he still was not ready. By being willing to commit to another 20 years of training, Inigo showed he was determined to achieve his ultimate goal of killing the six-fingered man and avenging his father’s death no matter how long it would take him. Thus, by having spending 10 years training and by being willing to endure still more years of training, Inigo showed that he was driven to avenge his father’s death.