"I"
Consider the main, unnamed character referred to only as “I” to be the representative of the author, Denis Diderot. Of course, he is not the only character who should be considered a representative of the author. Rameau’s Nephew is considered a novel, but it is a strange novel at that; a dialogue between “I” and Rameau in which both characters are definitely to be considered extensions of the author. What is perhaps most interesting about the “I” representative of Diderot is that every now and then he leaves behind the narrative formulation of first person perspective to provides prose descriptions that are more attuned to omniscient third person point of view. The primary role of “I” seems mainly, however, to be as the ear which listens to the far more complex character of Rameau’s nephew.
Rameau's Nephew "He"
“I” refers to Rameau’s nephew as “He.” “His” uncle is Jean-Philippe Rameau, a famous composer. If “I” is relatively easy to get a handle on as the earpiece who listens attentively to Rameau’s nephew and views him imaginatively as the embodiment of fascination, then “He” is an altogether different bird of another color. Weird, inconsistent and by turns either utterly good or utterly absent of good. Jean-Philippe’s nephew is unquestionably a fascinating character, he is also a freeloader hanging on his uncle’s reputation as he himself is not totally without the talent that runs through his family, but manifests a great void when it comes to ambition and drive. Rameau’s nephew is the irrational user that stands as the polar opposite of “I” as the personification of Enlightenment rational thought and humanist concern. “He” is a master of melodrama and the great self-indulgent wastrel and waster of the lesser talent he possesses.
