Hock Seng (The Windup Girl)

The character of Hock Seng stands out to me from the plethora of great characters in The Windup Girl for sheer resiliency and street smarts.  His story, more so than those of the others, weaves in and out of the upper parts of Thai society and the lower giving a perfect view of the detailed world that Bacigalupi has created.  He encapsulates the post-apocalyptic character, someone who has felt the effects of the collapse of society personally (the loss of his family and private empire) and adapted coming out the other side stronger, more capable, and necessarily ruthless.

No other character besides perhaps Emiko has as much going against them as Hock Seng who seems to face the potential for death around every corner.  He is a member of one of the lowest and most despised classes in society, his embezzling has him constantly in the cross-hairs of his boss, he's made a deal with the devil (actually organized crime), he even has to pretend to be something he's not just to survive in his own neighborhood. 

The result is that he's constantly on edge, constantly working things out in his head, planning his next move, looking around the room for the best exits.  Ordinarily, you would expect someone is his position to breakdown or make that final fatal mistake. Instead, his troubles hone his natural smarts and intuition to an almost predatory level.  Its a perfect example of Darwinian adaptability.  Like Mad Max or Robert Neville, he transforms to fit the post-apocalyptic landscape.  On the outside he is an unassuming character: small, aging, somewhat meek.  Yet he survives where other characters who are seemingly stronger and more capable (like Jaidee) fall under the complexities and demands of their strange and deadly society.

Every character in The Windup Girl has a compelling story.  Kanya is playing a difficult political game while dealing with her own past and trying to fill the large shoes of her disgraced Captain.  Anderson Lake is practically juggling chainsaws from page one while lying to everyone he meets.  Emiko's life is a living hell.  But I find Hock Seng's to be the most compelling thread, one that weaves through many of the others and connects all the various themes and tones of the novel.  There's always a hint of ruin around the bend, but you're also constantly wandering just how he'll get out of this scrape and on to the next one.