The author initially depicts everything about Mr. Hoppy as plain and sad. He lives in a “small flat high up in a tall concrete building” (9). There are no natural ornamentations in his view, and Dahl gives no descriptions of Mr. Hoppy’s likes and dislikes beyond his passions for Mrs. Silver and his flowers. He is characterized primarily by his loneliness: “He had always been a lonely man and now that he was retired from work, he was more lonely than ever” (9). There is no sign that anyone needs Mr. Hoppy for anything, which gives him a sense of purposelessness.

Mr. Hoppy is a retired mechanic, which gives some clues about his probable skillset, aptitude, and ingenuity. These skills are apparent once he crafts his tortoise-lifting device. He also claims to have once worked in North Africa, which means it is possible that he has not always been limited to his small apartment and the garage where he worked. However, the only mention of his time in North Africa is when he claims it’s where he gained his (alleged) knowledge of tortoises.

The only love that he can access at the story’s beginning is his flowers. They are beautiful and fragile in his staid environment.