Edgar Huntly: Or, Memoirs of a Sleepwalker

Edgar Huntly is the main first-person narrator whose name doesn’t appear until Chapter 14. While he was travelling, Native Americans killed his parents, and he went to live with his uncle in Solesbury, Pennsylvania. Edgar was educated by Sarsefield; he became familiar with nature, hunting, and writing in his youth. By the time the novel begins, Edgar is engaged to Mary Waldegrave and writing her a letter about his investigation of her brother’s death.

As indicated in the subtitle, Edgar is a sleepwalker, but—like the slow reveal of his name—it takes most of the novel for him to realize this. He becomes obsessed with a potential (and innocent) suspect of Waldegrave’s murder, Clithero, and this obsession leads to “rashness” and violence. Edgar undergoes a transformation in his pursuit of Clithero, awakening in a Jungian cave and becoming physically unrecognizable during his mad quest through the “wilderness” (191). He is an unreliable narrator who ends up betraying Sarsefield and breaking a promise to Mary, as well as killing a number of Native Americans. Despite his seeming immorality, Edgar is remorseful of killing, and all of his rash actions stem from his good intentions.