PEGGY’S CHARACTERIZATION (pag. 84)

Peggy is a friend of the two main characters and it has only a marginal role, since she appears into the narration only a few times. However, the same happens for all the other characters. An important part of Peggy’s characterization comes at page 84, where she, Marianne and Joanna are speaking at a common friend’s birthday party. The impression the reader gets is that Peggy mustn’t be the most intelligent person on heart, and also she’s not the most sober one, since she offers Marianne a “line of cocaine”. It is interesting to notice how her beauty is exalted in contrast with her intelligence, indeed, her simplicity becomes clearer since she’s directly compared to Joanna, whom humour she doesn’t always understand. Moreover, a few moments later, she judges Connell by his clothes, and this is clearly a symptom of superficiality.

JAMIE’S CHARACTERIZATION (pag. 131)

Jamie is a marginal character and Marianne’s boyfriend for a short period of time at the University. What comes to the surface according to the moments when he appears, Jamie likes his power on Marianne, since she feels submitted and she wants it. Jamie gives the impression to the reader to be a “sadist”, a person who takes pleasure in submitting other people, and also to be a person with a radical and hierarchical perception of reality, as Peggy testifies when she calls him a “fascist”. But in the end turns out to be ridiculuous in front of Connell and this emerges for example when they’re playing biliard or when he and Marianne speak about him and Connell seems to be more relevant than him to Marianne.

LORRAINE’S CHARACTERIZATION (pag. 1,2)

Lorraine is Connell’s mother and differently from many other characters she plays a relevant role in his life, since she lives with him and she’s his only point of reference, so she sometimes influences him. Her personality emerges at the very first beginning of the novel. The scene takes place at Marianne’s house where Lorraine works as a housekeeper and Connell is there to take his mother back home. What the reader understands about Lorraine is that she’s got a lively and kind personality and that she’s interested in Connell’s life, since she understands there’s something with the reading. Going on with the reading, her strong personality emerges: indeed, Connell hasn’t got a father and she had to grow up a son by herself without the help of a husband, and despite this, she’s yet lively and active.