Osmond (The Adapted)

Osmond is the protagonist and main male character of the 2023 French amateur novel "The Adapted" written by Felitt. The novel tracks his evolution throughout his high-school life. It is estimated that he is 15 or 16 years old at the beginning of the novel, and around 18 years old by the end of it. His birthday is on April 30th or November 17th.
== Contents ==
* 1Biography
** 1.1Early Life
** 1.2Escape and Rebirth
** 1.3Life After the Lab
** 1.4High-school life
** 1.5Confrontation with His Father
** 1.6Epilogue
* 2Personality
* 3Quotes
* 4Trivia
== Biography ==
Osmond is the protagonist and anti-hero of The Adapted. Born into a life of isolation and manipulation, his journey is marked by a constant struggle for autonomy, morality, and control over his life after a traumatic past of experimentation. From a young age, Osmond was subjected to brutal and dehumanizing experiments in a secretive lab where he was treated as nothing more than a tool for scientific advancement. He was born in the institute and only got to see the real world a few times before his escape, and not for long. His mother was an Iraqi refugee who was part of the experiments of the institution that his father helped directing.
==== Early Life ====
Osmond's early life is shrouded in secrecy. Taken as a lab subject during his formative years, he was forced to endure a series of experiments designed to push the limits of human adaptability and intelligence. These experiments included psychological manipulation, physical trials, and emotional conditioning, all of which stripped him of any sense of normalcy or humanity, at least in appearance. The trauma he experienced in the lab left him emotionally scarred, with a deep mistrust of authority and human relationships.
The scientists who controlled him saw him as a mere test subject, caring little for his personal well-being. They treated him like an object, dehumanizing him in the name of progress. This experience shaped Osmond's worldview and led to his cold, detached approach to life and relationships. As he was going through these experiments, Osmond tried to "protect his emotions" by not showing them to the researchers that were taking notes about him. Simultaneously, he kept trying to find ways to get out of the institution out of love for his mother and survival instinct, ending up elaborating a plan with a girl that was also being subjected to the experiments of the institution in order to break free.
==== Escape and Rebirth ====
At a pivotal moment in his life, Osmond managed to escape the lab by committing arson as a distraction to then run with the help of a teacher of the institute (held against his will). After going outside for the first time in a long time he was subjected to a great deal of sensory overload and anxiety as evidenced by him being overwhelmed by sounds, covering his ears, and running away in places he does not know anything about. Luckily he was eventually found by Sébastian who would then become his mentor and father figure, offering him shelter, identity papers and an education. His newfound freedom, however, was tainted by the emotional and psychological scars he carried with him. Despite the freedom he sought for so long, Osmond felt like a stranger in the outside world. His traumatic experiences had left him emotionally numb and detached from others.
After his escape, Osmond struggled to reintegrate into society. Showing an intense fear of people, and even certain animals, as evidenced by when he wakes up at Sébastian's house, mentioning that he is scared of the cat, and being overall on the defensive, panicking as he tries to analyse Sébastian's intention, showcasing a deep mistrust of human nature.
==== Life After the Lab ====
Once free, Osmond began to live a life of minimalism and isolation, avoiding deep emotional connections and preferring solitude. His day-to-day existence was filled with reading, writing, and contemplating the world around him. He used these activities as a way to make sense of his past and process the trauma he endured. His intellectual pursuits led him down a path of philosophical inquiry, where he grappled with concepts of morality, power, and human nature. He studied new languages and a great deal of knowledge about the world with the help of Sébastian, and got to enjoy a few years in his company prior his high-school years. As a result, Osmond shows a great deal of respect towards Sébastian, being the only being he trusts.
Despite his emotional detachment, Osmond's intelligence and analytical mind allowed him to excel in manipulating those around him. He could read people with ease, using their weaknesses and desires to control situations to his advantage. This manipulative streak was a direct result of his time in the lab, where survival depended on his ability to out-think and out-maneuver those who sought to control him.
=== High-school life ===
Osmond's high school life is a complex period marked by his emotional detachment, manipulative behaviour, and internal philosophical struggles, all stemming from the trauma of his past experiences. He approaches high school with a sense of detachment and disinterest in forming meaningful relationships. His time spent as a lab experiment has left him emotionally scarred and unable to connect with others in a typical way. While most students are concerned with social hierarchies, friendships, and typical teenage drama, Osmond sees these things as trivial, being content with his isolation and preferring to spend his time in solitude rather than engage in superficial social interactions. He often sits alone during lunch or chooses secluded areas where he can observe others without being involved.
His emotional distance allows him time for deep introspection. Osmond uses his high school years to ponder philosophical questions about power, control, and human nature, much of which fuels his darker tendencies, as evidenced in chapter 6 by his journal. He also fuels a deep hatred for his father, depicting morbid desires and a precise goal to find him. However, he also simultaneously wishes to explore the hopeful aspects of life further, wanting to have meaningful connections with people unknowingly, as he then unconsciously tries to form relationships, a more enlightened aspect of his personality that was fueled by Sébastian and his own introspection.
While Osmond is highly intelligent, his academic performance doesn’t necessarily reflect this, as he often does the bare minimum to get through school. He sees little value in academic excellence, as it doesn’t contribute to his long-term goals of survival and control. Osmond maintains average grades, staying in the range of a "C+" to "B-" depending on the subject, not because he lacks the ability but because he views in there a potential danger in being noticed by his father too soon, showcasing a certain paranoia and obsession about his plan having to go perfectly. As a planner, Osmond doesn't allow himself much time to be spontaneous which doesn't allow him to form meaningful relationships despite wanting to, once again due to his conflicted nature.
Outside of the typical school curriculum, Osmond spends much of his time reading philosophy and psychology, topics that align with his interests in power and morality. These subjects become tools for him to navigate social situations and manipulate others when necessary. He also spends a great deal of his time writing in his journal to either vent or introspect, or even note his observations and achievements.
Osmond has very few meaningful relationships during high school, as he prefers to keep people at a distance. Morticia is one of the few people who engages with Osmond on an intellectual level. Their relationship is built on shared interests in philosophy and introspection, though Osmond remains emotionally distant even with her. While Morticia might view their interactions as a form of connection, Osmond sees it more as a useful exchange of ideas. Eventually their relationship grow into a deep friendship in which Osmond opens up much about his past and darker side, also allowing Morticia to see him in his most vulnerable moments. He becomes however more distant with her again by the end of the novel in order to push her aside, in an attempt to protect her.
=== Confrontation with His Father ===
Osmond’s high school years are also marked by his increasing tension with his father, the man responsible for his traumatic past. The school setting, in many ways, mirrors the power dynamics between Osmond and his father, as both environments seek to control him in different ways. Eventually Osmond catches his father and tortures him, also attempting many times to question him, as Morticia and Andrès catch up to him. He then goes to reveal that he expected them and that their presence was part of his plan, showing a cold aspect of himself on purpose in order to push them away emotionally, as he wanted to kill himself and didn't want his friends to suffer from that loss. After Morticia's words resonate with him however, he decides to drop the idea of killing himself, but knows he is going to jail for his crimes if he is caught, and so has no choice left but to commit a pseudocide, discarding his friends in the process, despite not wanting to. In his last moments as "The Adapted" he shows gratitude for the moments with his friends, as he fades in the flames.
=== Epilogue ===
In the epilogue it is revealed that Osmond didn't die, but is alive and has a cat named Henry. Morticia ignores that fact and seems to be depressed, even though it is not impossible that she eventually finds out again about him due to her detective skills. At any rate, Osmond shows a great psychological improvement, as he mentions going to therapy and trying his best to live a life of hope. Showcasing his abandonment of resentment and revenge, to instead accept the path of redemption he always wanted to follow. He is now a university student and still writes in his journal, being now a young man, around the age of 18 years old.
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== Personality ==
Osmond is characterized by his profound introspection and emotional detachment. He is highly intelligent, often engaging in deep philosophical contemplation, as evidenced by the many monologues at the beginning of each chapter he narrates, often quoting great, mainly dark thinkers such as Schopenhauer, Dostoyevsky and Machiavel. This intellectual bent, however, is shadowed by a pervasive sense of nihilism. His interactions with others are marked by a pragmatic and sometimes manipulative approach, as he tends to view relationships more as intellectual exercises than emotional connections.
Despite this, Osmond is not devoid of emotion; his numbness is a defensive mechanism against the trauma of his past. He occasionally exhibits a melancholic longing for meaning and connection, revealing a more vulnerable side beneath his cold exterior. As a matter of fact, Osmond seems to want to find meaning to his own existence and the world's, as he seeks to live life with "hope" according to his own words, perhaps in an attempt to fight the darkness within himself. He seems indeed to want to disprove his own childhood-trauma-induced bias by attempting to live with hope.
Although appearing externally apathetic, and almost emotionless, Osmond's internal world is marked by a profound sense of emotion that he seems to neglect or even be blind to due to years of repression, marked by his judgemental monologues about people (which show a certain disdain, disgust and anger towards the human species as a whole, particularly elitism), but also manifestations of anger such as when he grabs Luna's wrist in an impulse of unexpected anger. Luna in particular was the first person to let Osmond's mask of sanity slip, which would then allow Morticia to dig deeper into his complex psychology.
With Morticia, Osmond would, in chapter 7, go as far as to experience a mental breakdown and cry in regret, guilt, shame and deep sorrow about the animals he had to kill during the experiments, with a profound disgust and hatred of his own "nature" as a human being. At his core, Osmond is indeed a broken person who despises himself to the greatest level and feels like he shouldn't be allowed to live and that his entire existence was a terrible mistake that should have been avoided. He is thus not devoid of remorse, or empathy, rather he seems to simply repress these aspects of himself to "protect his emotions", which he has been doing since the age of 6.
Osmond is a misanthrope who is very judgemental of people in his thoughts, which contributes to his already introverted nature, avoiding crowds of people and having a certain disdain for parties in particular, as evidenced in the prologue and chapter 1. He indeed would rather avoid social events that don't benefit him in some way, or at the very least that he deems a waste of his time, as he accepted the invitation of Andrès in order to improve his own philosophy and experience something new, which shows a great amount of openness to experience.
As an anti-hero, Osmond retains many redeeming qualities despite his multiple villainous deeds, such as wanting to keep his promises to Morticia, helping some people such as Andrès without expecting anything in return or even going to accompany Sergio to the church despite being irreligious, doing it simply out of sympathy and friendship, and perhaps to reflect on his own actions and introspect further. Osmond possesses a great deal of openness and seeks to improve a lot despite his internal conflict. Throughout the story Osmond is conflicted between his search for revenge and seeking redemption, his actions being the direct result of this internal war between two prominent parts of himself. At his core, Osmond seems to not want to hurt anyone apart from his father and those that get in his way, and despite using his friends in order to achieve his goals, he tries not to hurt them in the process. By the end of the story, Osmond villainises himself further to disgust Morticia and Andrès, as to keep them out of his life in order to not hurt them, which in his own way was an attempt at saving his friends (from himself).
Osmond can be ruthless, cruel, cold and even sadistic in certain situations, all of which involve his father, as it seems that his vengeful "nature" is exclusively directed towards him. The moment that evidences the most this dark aspect (the darkest side) of his personality is when he starts beating up his father, carefully measuring his strength so he doesn't pass out and suffers further, while simultaneously losing grasp on reality and the control he has on himself, uncontrollably laughing as he keeps punching him, throwing him on the broken glass to cut him. Apart from this instance in chapter 12 and 13 in which he commits many crimes against his father, most of Osmond's evil deeds are motivated by either self-defence, or self-preservation, many times without any direct ill intent, as he simply lacks the common sense needed to understand certain actions he does that seem normal to him due to his upbringing. Many of his crimes were done in order to escape the institution, or as a child part of an experiment, without much knowledge of right and wrong. Osmond struggles with the concepts of good and evil. He often rationalizes his darker actions by arguing that morality is subjective and that his actions are necessary for his survival or understanding of the world, further showcasing his nihilism.
At his core, Osmond is a survivalist. His primary motivation is to maintain his freedom and autonomy after being subjected to harsh conditions. His actions, however cruel at times, are often driven by his need to stay in control of his life. His father justifies this by saying he is simply following his function as "The Adapted" by confronting himself to new experiences and adapting to them, but Osmond is not just a product of circumstances as evidenced many times by his conflicting morality and his deep desire to do the right thing deep down, despite it being overwhelmed by darker aspects of his personality that feed on the competitive environment he is in.
Osmond develops by the end of the novel a deep sense of justice and understanding of himself, deciding to abandon his plan of committing suicide and killing his father, to instead fake his death and go to therapy, nonetheless discarding his friends for their own good while doing so. He admits to himself that he is not a good person and that he never pretended to be, despite Morticia claiming otherwise, as she was able to see the light in him that he is unfortunately incapable of seeing in himself. Osmond also admits that he deeply cares about Morticia, Andrès and Sergio, and that manipulating them was a way to push them aside, even though at the beginning of the novel he didn't feel any empathy for them, or very little. He always liked spending time with his friends in order to learn more about himself and simply experience "a life with hope", and had always a desire to improve himself, which is finally shown in the epilogue. In the end Osmond abandons the path of revenge, and gives an attempt at redemption.