¶ … Enemy of the People
Character Analysis & Reflection of the Play "An Enemy of the People"
Character Analyses
Tom Stockmann -- This part is essentially the role of the scientist. Dr. Stockman is an idealist, secure in his scientific world that the right thing, as he defines it, will be done. Tom Stockman is rational if not pragmatic. He underestimates the power that money has over common sense, good sense, and sometimes any sense at all. Stockman's world view is that of medicine, a paradigm that demands its practitioners do no harm. While money from tourism would certainly be nice, Dr. Stockman is unable to accept the idea that there are citizens in the town who would trade good health -- perhaps even their own good health -- for money. Further, he doesn't understand why the authorities don't respond to his discovery and move forward with making the corrections to the pipes, in concert with his original suggestions. Dr. Stockman has right (times 2) on his side: he correctly identified the cause of prior illnesses and his position as a doctor demands that he respond to that situation, and he advised against placing the water pipes in their present position, a recommendation that, had it been followed, would have avoided the central issue altogether.
Peter Stockmann -- This part is essentially the role of the business enterprise. As the mayor, Peter Stockmann has the commercial well-being of the town at heart. He argues with his brother about the need to go along with the majority in decisions that impact the township. Further, Mayor Stockmann is perfectly willing to subvert the truth if it will further his cause, which in this case is the development of the bath project. The issue of water contamination is further complicated by the fact that the Mayor chose the locations for the pipes, and so is directly responsible for the contamination, particularly since he did not follow his brothers' more knowledgeable advice. The sibling issues between the two brothers are an interesting subplot that adds to the complexity of finding an acceptable solution to the contaminated water problem. Peter thinks that Tom is rash, impetuous, self-righteous, and impractical. Tom thinks that Peter is pompous,
Hovstad -- This part is the role of the press, a major player in freedom...
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