Sampson Iliaviziomek, or as every calls him 'Sampson the Jew' which is offensive but he lived during the 1850s America.
As a child, Sampson grew up in a strict Jewish community, his only relief was the joy of his mother, but when she died, his father married again to a much older and unkind woman. During his early adolescence, Sampson was weary of living within the tight Hasidic community. He secretly sneaked out during school and wandered around the village, there he saw burlesques, circuses, pubs, rat fights and beautiful women. He went into the village for several years enjoying drinks, women and a few fights, and he would come back all bruised and pretended that Christian bullies punched him. But he was even more depressed in his home and in his community; he hated the way Jews were treated but never fought back like in the old days, he wanted more individual freedom and his step-mother is becoming more and more harsh and his father often takes her side.
So he planned to run away, and then he met a runaway nun from a Catholic Church named Agnes; the two fell deeply in love with each other and had their first tryst one night. They both took their belongings and a horse and rode away to a town called Winyard to find work, only to find themselves victims of bigotry. So they were forced to work in the criminal underworld, where Sampson worked as a petty thief and then burglar and then Fence. He bought a pub (called The Siren's Song) as a disguise and worked along with Agnes, whom he called his wife even though they're not married and cannot have children.
But they took in street urchins/slave children/immigrant orphans as foster children and used them to steal handkerchiefs, snuff boxes, watches, gloves, pins and small jewelry from the wealthy customers. They also used the Pub to hold meetings, deals and trades with fellow criminals.
In all honesty, Sampson can be selfish, hypocritical, flirtatious and is basically the Id, but he is not without a conscience and he's not inconsiderate. He stole many things and has a taste for drink and cannot turn down a bargain when it concerns some material gain. But Sampson is no miser and definitely no traitor; he has a deep sensitivity, a moral implication and a devotion to God and to his faith and ethnicity, but likes to see a gray area in everything and has no love for tribalism.
Sampson does however feel pessimistic about the survival of the Jewish people. He has a firm belief in his God but does not desire to be too religious, but he also believes that God has abandon his people and that their heading for a societal dead end. Sampson believes there is no hope left for his people in the Christian world, but he will not allow himself to go to that dead end. He believed that the Jewish people will never gain equality or be seen as human beings because the Christians have too much power and are too dominant.
As a child, Sampson grew up in a strict Jewish community, his only relief was the joy of his mother, but when she died, his father married again to a much older and unkind woman. During his early adolescence, Sampson was weary of living within the tight Hasidic community. He secretly sneaked out during school and wandered around the village, there he saw burlesques, circuses, pubs, rat fights and beautiful women. He went into the village for several years enjoying drinks, women and a few fights, and he would come back all bruised and pretended that Christian bullies punched him. But he was even more depressed in his home and in his community; he hated the way Jews were treated but never fought back like in the old days, he wanted more individual freedom and his step-mother is becoming more and more harsh and his father often takes her side.
So he planned to run away, and then he met a runaway nun from a Catholic Church named Agnes; the two fell deeply in love with each other and had their first tryst one night. They both took their belongings and a horse and rode away to a town called Winyard to find work, only to find themselves victims of bigotry. So they were forced to work in the criminal underworld, where Sampson worked as a petty thief and then burglar and then Fence. He bought a pub (called The Siren's Song) as a disguise and worked along with Agnes, whom he called his wife even though they're not married and cannot have children.
But they took in street urchins/slave children/immigrant orphans as foster children and used them to steal handkerchiefs, snuff boxes, watches, gloves, pins and small jewelry from the wealthy customers. They also used the Pub to hold meetings, deals and trades with fellow criminals.
In all honesty, Sampson can be selfish, hypocritical, flirtatious and is basically the Id, but he is not without a conscience and he's not inconsiderate. He stole many things and has a taste for drink and cannot turn down a bargain when it concerns some material gain. But Sampson is no miser and definitely no traitor; he has a deep sensitivity, a moral implication and a devotion to God and to his faith and ethnicity, but likes to see a gray area in everything and has no love for tribalism.
Sampson does however feel pessimistic about the survival of the Jewish people. He has a firm belief in his God but does not desire to be too religious, but he also believes that God has abandon his people and that their heading for a societal dead end. Sampson believes there is no hope left for his people in the Christian world, but he will not allow himself to go to that dead end. He believed that the Jewish people will never gain equality or be seen as human beings because the Christians have too much power and are too dominant.