The Marchesa The Marchesa is an old woman who lives in a tiny villa attached to a garden. Her lot is the last remaining piece of undeveloped land in the quickly growing downtown area, and she is surrounded by high-rise buildings. She is a mysterious figure seldom seen in the neighborhood. Passersby and neighbors have…
Tag: Characters
The Fence by Hamsad Rangkuti – Characters
Father Father is a generous and kind soul. He sees no reason to keep vagrants off his property. He wants to share what he has, though he has very little. He objects to building a fence, but he is not very strong-willed. He allows Mother to convince him they need a fence in case they…
End of the Game – Characters
Ariel Ariel, a young man who attends an Industrial High School, passes on the 2:08 train every afternoon. He sees the three girls each day in their poses and begins to throw them notes from the train. Ariel says that he likes the Statues. Soon he lets them know that he is transfixed by Letitia….
A Devoted Son – Characters
Bhatia Bhatia is Varma’s next door neighbor. Although he is old, Bhatia is still somewhat mobile, unlike most of Varma’s other neighbors. Bhatia visits Varma and is sympathetic to his complaints about how Rakesh treats him. Bhatia is horrified that Rakesh refuses his father food, saying it is disrespectful. Rakesh Rakesh is the dutiful son…
Daughter of Invention – Characters
Carlos Garcia Carlos Garcia, or Papi, has brought his family to the United States to avoid political persecution in his native Dominican Republic. He is haunted by the fear he felt before emigrating that the Dominican secret police would come for him and his family. Nevertheless, despite building a successful medical practice in New York…
By the Waters of Babylon – Characters
John John is the main character and narrator of ‘‘By the Waters of Babylon.’’ When the story begins, he is a boy from a tribe known as the Hill People. His father is a priest who performs purifying rituals and is also responsible for traveling into the regions known as Dead Places. These are the…
Where Have You Gone Charming Billy? – Characters
Paul Berlin Paul Berlin, the protagonist of the story, is a soldier in the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War. Throughout the story, he is identified as ‘‘Private First Class Paul Berlin,’’ which emphasizes the way a soldier ceases to be an individual and becomes a member of the platoon. Paul Berlin’s father Paul Berlin’s…
Thank You, Ma’am by Langston Hughes – Characters
Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones Hughes begins ‘‘Thank You, Ma’m’’ with an evocative description of Jones: ‘‘She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but a hammer and nails.’’ This sets the tone for the development of her character. She is powerful and capable. She is overwhelmingly physically superior…
A Problem by Anton Chekov – Characters
Colonel The Colonel is one of Sasha’s two paternal uncles. He is a bombastic, haughty, and self-righteous man. When he is first introduced in the story, he speaks loftily but largely nonsensically. His blithering is underscored by the fact that the other uncles profess to understand him. When the Colonel finally begins to make sense,…
The Pit and the Pendulum – Characters
Inquisitors The Inquisitors only appear as black-robed, whitelipped judges in the story’s first scene, yet they play an important role as the narrator’s nemeses. They represent pure evil, although historically the tribunals of the Inquisition believed they were on God’s side. They represent an omniscient force in the story, watching the narrator’s every move and…