The four people who were kidnapped, Hugh Conway, Charles Mallison, Roberta Brinklow, and Henry Barnard, were initially anxious to return to "civilization." But after spending a few days in Shangri-La, they had no problem when they were told that they wouldn't be able to leave for at least two months. The only one out of the four who was angered by this was Mallison. He wanted to return to England as soon as possible and be rejoined with his family. He didn't believe anything that Chang, their guide and host at S

Hugh Conway is the central character in Lost Horizon. We mostly see the other characters through his eyes. Conway is a very relaxed and indifferent person. He has suffered great emotional trauma in World War I and has no family or friends back in England. Because of this he is passionless, and thus perfectly suited to remain in Shangri-La and become the High Lama. He is patient and a good observer. An example of this is the fact that Conway didn't reveal his knowledge of Chinese in order to allow people to speak freely in front of him and learn more about the valley. An example of his passionlessness is his love for Lo- Tsen. He falls in love with her quietly and thus does not rush to "snatch her first," nor does he even expose his ability to speak Chinese in order to communicate with Lo-Tsen.

"He was only partly unhappy, but he was infinitely and rather sadly perplexed. He did not know whether he had been mad and was now sane, or had been sane and was now mad again." (Hilton 216) This passage is useful in illustrating to us how confused Conway was when he agreed to leave Shangri-La. Firstly, Father Perrault had just told Conway that he would inherit the position of High Lama and then died in front of him. He was disoriented and lost when Mallison approached him. On top of that, Mallison crushed Conway by telling him that he and Lo-Tsen were in love. And then Mallison made Conway realize that he had seen no real proof to what he had been believing, and the possibility that it was all just nonsense arose. This disillusionment that Conway felt, not knowing what was reality and what was a lie, is what caused him to agree to leave with Mallison and Lo-Tsen.

"As the figures moved down the valley they revealed themselves to be a party of a dozen or more, carrying with them a hooded chair." (Hilton 56) This passage raises a question in my mind: Wouldn't the people carrying the chair (commoners) say to themselves "why are we giving this man special treatment?" This is a flaw that occurs in many utopian novels. Here, Hilton makes it seem as if the natives of Shangri-La don't mind giving others special treatment, and don't mind living in mud-huts while the lamas and the "lamas-in-training (i.e. Chang)" live in a palace.

The rest of the book is narrated by the unnamed neurologist who also narrated the prologue. We are told that Conway returned to A

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Approximate Word count = 1592
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)