Joshua Then and Now (1985) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

A successful writer and pundit who feels a void of meaning, Joshua constantly revisits his past to understand who he has become. His life is marked by creative self-fashioning, moral ambiguities, and a relentless search for significance. The story uses his perspective to examine how memory and reputation collide in adulthood.

• 🧠 Intellectual
• 🧭 Ambitious
• 🎭 Identity

Joshua's father, a boxer who turned to gentler crime, his worldview blends practical pragmatism with provocative ideas about life, sex, and religion. He leaves a lasting imprint on Joshua's feelings about power, morality, and resilience. Reuben's contradictions become a lens through which Joshua judges his own choices.

• 🧱 Family roots
• 🥊 Working-class
• 🧭 Philosophical

An upper-class Canadian figure described as married to a poseur of a communist, she represents the social prize Joshua seeks. Her position within elite circles makes her a pivotal element in Joshua's ascent, and their relationship exposes tensions between authenticity and social performance. She embodies the allure—and the peril—of status.

• 🌟 Social climbing
• 💞 Relationships
• 🧭 Elite society

A conceited brother-in-law whose insecurity drives vulnerability and a surprising role in the plot. He embodies the fragile ego that accompanies social pretensions and the push-pull of family approval versus personal ambition. His actions ripple through Joshua's attempts to navigate a complicated social world.

• 🧩 Family dynamics
• 🗺️ Social circles
• 🧠 Complexity

A childhood friend whose path intersects with Joshua's later life, becoming part of the neighborhood fabric. The narrative uses their relationship to explore how past connections influence present choices and temptations. Teddy's arc highlights the pull of old loyalties amid new ambitions.

• 🤝 Friendship
• 🧭 Past & present
• 🧩 Influence

A member of Joshua's circle described through his memories and social world, representing the people affected by his actions and the era's expectations. Susy's presence helps map the emotional landscape of Joshua's relationships and the consequences of his self-fashioning. Her character reflects the personal costs of ambition and memory.

• 👥 Social circle
• 🧠 Reflection
• 🕰️ Memory

Another figure from Joshua's circle, whose life intersects with the urban-rural mix of his world. Alex's story contributes to the broader tapestry of friendships and rivalries that shape Joshua's moral choices. He helps illustrate the social networks behind Joshua's ascent and its fallout.

• 👥 Friendships
• 🧭 Social networks
• 🧩 Rivalry

A character connected to the spheres of power and prestige, mentioned as part of the elite milieu. Joanna's presence illuminates the mechanisms of social entry and the compromises that accompany relationships within affluent circles. She embodies the era's cross-currents between desire, status, and propriety.

• 🌟 Elite society
• 💑 Relationships
• 🧭 Social entry

A figure in Joshua's social orbit whose actions and opinions reflect the moral ambiguities of the circles he moves in. Seymour adds another layer to the ensemble's satire of social pretensions and the costs of deceit. His presence underscores the theme of complicity within a web of appearances.

• 👥 Ensemble
• 🕵️‍♂️ Deception
• 🗺️ Social world

A character within the social tapestry who interacts with Joshua's world of ambition and romance. Pauline helps populate the orbit of influence around the senator’s circle and the attempts to bridge different social classes. Her role underscores the era's blending of personal desire with public image.

• 💞 Romance
• 🧭 Social circles
• 🧠 Perception

A figure in the broader cast whose presence supports the exploration of Joshua's career and social maneuvering. Eli's interactions offer a view into the professional side of Joshua's life and the compromises that come with ambition. He contributes to the mosaic of relationships that shape the narrative.

• 🏢 Career
• 🧭 Ambition
• 🧠 Intelligence

A neighbor in the cottage-community setting who embodies the social fabric around Lake Memphremagog. Her interactions contribute to the depiction of a community where appearances and gossip influence choices. She helps frame the environment in which Joshua's past actions ripple outward.

• 🏡 Community
• 🗣️ Gossip
• 🧭 Social norms

Another neighbor whose presence adds to the texture of the affluent lakeside milieu. His role participates in the broader portrayal of a tight-knit, status-conscious circle. He represents the steady, outwardly respectable surface of the community Joshua engages with.

• 🏡 Community
• 🧩 Social fabric
• 🧭 Status

Joshua crafts and reshapes his identity to fit opportunities and social expectations. The film explores how self-image can be a performance that hides underlying truth, and how past actions bleed into the present. Personal integrity clashes with the need to enroll in elite circles, leaving emotional scars.

Ambition drives Joshua from his working-class roots toward sophisticated social strata, testing loyalties and relationships along the way. The pursuit of status exposes the fragility of truth as loyalties are bent and reputations are manufactured. The story critiques the glamour of high society as a veneer for maneuvering and self-protection.

Family history—parents, siblings, and close networks—shapes Joshua's choices, often re-emerging as consequences years later. The surrounding social world around Lake Memphremagog serves as a stage where past indiscretions are revealed. Memory becomes a tool for reconciliation or further guilt as Joshua confronts what his life has cost others.