LORRAINE

Lorraine is Connell’s mother. She is a second character, but she plays an important role in particular in the first part of the novel. She supports his son and also cares a lot about Marianne. She can see her real self and defends her from Connell’s actions, for example when he asked another girl for the Debts.

She is caring and genuine. She is the only point of reference Connell has and would do anything for him.

ALAN

Alan is Marianne’s brother. He appears a few times in the novel but has a relevant role, helping the reader to understand a lot more about Marianne’s character.

Their father used to hit her and their mother. Alan is verbally and physically aggressive toward Marianne, too. Marianne is alone because her mother never stands up for her. With this information, it becomes clearer the reason why Marianne tends to look for violence in her relationships.

PEGGY

Peggy is Marianne’s college friend. She is superficial and doesn’t have her own ideas and personality, indeed she stops seeing Marianne after her popular ex-boyfriend Jamie says bad things about her. Peggy doesn’t have any idea about her future but marrying a rich man. Her conversations are based on sex and drugs. These factors make the reader understand she is not so smart and deep as a person.