ogier p., generally referred to as "the self-taught man" or the autodidact, is an acquaintance of antoine's. he is a bailiff's clerk who lives for the pursuit of knowledge and love of humanity, which inspires in roquentin much criticism and mockery, although he develops a strange compassion for him. highly disciplined, he has spent hundreds of hours reading at the local library. he often speaks to roquentin and confides in him that he is a socialist. at the end of the novel he is revealed to be a pedophile.