Hunchback: Quasimodo

Here I present the two versions of the main character, the medieval one and the modern.

In one century, fear of God and His disapproval led people to see deformities as a mark of it and the existance of a rotten soul. However, it also clashed with the Christian teachings of compassion. I guess people like him had to navigate life feeling the repugnance felt by others and the forced compassion that tried to disguise it.

In modern times, as through centuries we took away superstition, a more realistic and truly empathic view of deformities came to mind. Except in the 20s and 30s, when ideas of making "better" human beings and with the excuse - sometimes deeply felt - of helping these unfortunate people (always dependant, always handicapped), the idea of eugenesics made its way through legislation. So much so in Nazi ideals: lives worthy (or not) of living.

Tough times, both of them. But is not a philosophical, religious or moral debate here. Is about how to represent Quasimodo in both.

Hunchback in monk old robes

Quasimodo in 1480. Deformed. Abandoned. Hidden. Mocked. Despised. Yet a man nonetheless - capable of love, passion, sadness, jealousy and anger. 

Raised in the cathedral by Frollo’s charity,  he identifies with the church, and clings to it with gratitude. The robe hints the desire to belong to the clergy,  but  he never will.. He was never truly loved. His shoes, worn thin, and his faded, frayed garments betray the absence of real care - the outer proof of an inner truth.

Hunchback in 1940s clothing

Quasimodo in occupied France. Same frayed clothes. Same faded colours. His patched sweater I imagine in burgundy - a tone that carries love, compassion and life against all odds.

Now his body now becomes a threat to the Nazi ideal: a reminder of everything they seek to erase. His life is judged as undeserving of care or compassion, stripped of the emotions that make us human.

His very presence - worn shoes, patched trousers, crooked body - is Resistance.

He endures a living memory of what it truly means to be human: physical imperfection and unbroken spirit (the steely grey of his trousers).