Father See Mr. White Morris See Sergeant-Major Morris Sergeant-Major Morris Sergeant-Major Morris is the catalyst for the story: he brings the monkey’s paw to the Whites’ home. He is “a tall, burly man, beady of eye and rubicund of visage,” whose eyes get brighter after his third glass of whiskey at the Whites’ hearth. Morris…
Tag: Characters
Miss Brill – Characters
Miss Brill Miss Brill is a middle-aged, unmarried English woman who lives alone in a small apartment in France. She teaches English to students and reads the newspaper to an elderly man several times a week. One of her prized possessions is a fur necklet that she wears on a Sunday visit to the town’s…
In The Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried: Characters
Dying Friend This unnamed woman is the friend whom the narrator visits in the hospital. Her request to the narrator to “tell me things I won’t mind forgetting,” sets the story in motion. The woman was the narrator’s best friend, but her feeling of betrayal is revealed when she introduces the narrator to her nurse…
A Good Man Is Hard To Find – Characters
Bailey Bailey is the son of the principal character in the story, the Grandmother, and is the father of June Star and John Wesley. He drives the car as the family embarks on their vacation. Bailey’s major importance in the story is his relationship to other people, especially his mother. He allows her to boss…
Gimpel the Fool: Characters
Devil See The Spirit of Evil Elka Elka, who is known as the town prostitute, marries Gimpel when he agrees to get the town to take up a collection to raise a dowry for her. She is five months pregnant by another man when they are married, but she tells Gimpel the child is his…
The Gift of the Magi – Characters
Dell See Delia Young Jim See James Dillingham Young Madame See Mme Sofronie Mme Sofronie Madame Sofronie, the only character in the story other than the Youngs, owns the local hairgoods shop; in the early 1900s, when this story was written, wigs were made of real human hair. She has a small role in the…
The Fall of the House of Usher: Characters
Narrator The unnamed narrator of the story is described as a childhood friend of Roderick Usher’s. However, the narrator notes that he does not know Roderick very well because Roderick’s “reserve had always been excessive and habitual.” The narrator visits the Usher family house after Roderick sends him an emotional letter begging him to come….
Everyday Use by Alice Walker: Characters
Asalamalakim See Hakim-a-barber Grandma Dee Although Grandma Dee, as the Johnson women call her, does not appear in the story, she is a significant presence. Maggie is attached to the quilts because they make her think of Grandma Dee. Thus, although the woman is dead, she represents the cherished family presence that lives on in…
A Christmas Memory: Characters
Buddy Throughout “A Christmas Memory” the narrator refers to himself only in the first person (I, me, myself), but his friend calls him Buddy ‘ ‘in memory of a boy who was formerly her best friend” and who had died when she was a child. Truman Capote said that Buddy is based on himself; as…
The Bear by William Faulkner: Characters
Ash Ash is an African-American servant to Major deSpain. He is described in womanly terms and is relegated to tending to camp. After Ike kills his first buck, Ash airs his resentment at not being allowed to hunt. When Major deSpain allows him to go out the next day, Ash shows himself to be an…