Superintendent Bloom

Superintendent Bloom is the main antagonist of Gail Carson Levine's Dave at Night.

Dave at Night
Superintendent Bloom is a heartless, cruel, calculating, abusive, and tyrannical monster who has absolutely no regard for any human safety or life. He runs the Hebrew Home For Boys with an iron fist and uses lies and trickery to get his way, like when he tries to hide the boys' abuse. Mr. Bloom is nicknamed "Mr. Doom" by the boys because of his cruelty. Anyone who breaks the rules at the orphanage risks getting beaten with a yardstick by him. When our hero, Dave Caros, arrives at the HHB, Mr. Bloom welcomes him to the home and steals a carving that belongs to Dave's late father. The orphans warn Dave about Mr. Doom's tyranny and when Dave gets caught for sneaking out, the powerful man gives him a terrible thrashing after he calls him a thief. The boys help Dave take back the carving, a few of them getting injured in the process, and helps our hero escape, but not before Mr. Bloom nearly catches him. Dave returns with his new friends, a gonif and a kind little girl, he faces Mr. Bloom and tells him off. The evil man is fired by the press at the end of the book, never to terrorize the Hebrew Home for Boys again.

Trivia

 * Superintendent Bloom has many similarities to Bill Sikes.
 * Although Dave at Night is based on true events during the Harlem Renaissance, the superintendents at the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, which was the inspiration for the Hebrew Home For Boys, were not vile and vicious.