The Tramp
The name of "Monsieur Hulot" is believed to echo "Charlot," the French name for Charlie Chaplin’s character The Tramp. However, "Hulot is more distracted than the Tramp, he cannot disentangle himself from situations as effortlessly, and he is not as central a character, he is not ‘the reason for the film.'" As theorized by David Bellos, Hulot may even represent an inversion of The Tramp: “Hulot tilts forwards whereas Chaplin tilts back; Chaplin’s puppet-like waddle is very different from Hulot’s ‘springy glide’; and there is a difference in costume too: the bowler, tails, huge pants, cane and cigarette are replaced by a pipe, various accessories, pants that are too short, a sports blazer and a Homburg, although the striped socks are borrowed from Keaton.”