Numbers in [] indicate
that the person is spoken about
Numbers in () indicate that the
person is on the phone
No brackets are for characters, who
appear in person: only a few do
Elizabeth Booth
Paul Booth
Billy Vorakers
Mr. McCandless
Lester
Boys
Madame Socrate
Old man with broom
Grocery man
Mrs. McCandless
Edie Grimes |
Character |
Description and appearance in the
novel |
First mention |
Adolph |
Executor of the Vorakers estate trust, in which what is left of Elizabeth's money is tied up
(5), sells Longview, eventually working for Paul
(258) ([2-8], [17], [20-21], [34], [35], [40], [46], [71], [73],
[86], [113], [170], [173-174], [197], [241], (258-259)) |
[2] |
Afrikaner |
“husband” of “slut who worked the
New Stanley” (133), is thought to have shot Klinger ([133]) |
[133] |
agent |
Real estate agent through whom the
Booths rented McCandless' house (125) [23], [28], [60], [65], [125],
[133] |
[23] |
Arnold |
Former friend of Elizabeth ([89]) |
(89) |
Bag lady |
Sister of the homeless, “that bum
that drowned” (207), wants to sue Ude for negligence, manslaughter
[207] |
[207] |
Biff |
“this old locker room guy” from school
days, helps Billy out ([177]) |
[177] |
Booth, Elizabeth |
Paul's wife, called Bibb(s) by her
brother, Liz by her husband, “daughter of late mineral
tycoon F R Vorakers” (255), survived airplane crash four years
before the novel's start (153), asthmatic, red-haired, “the redhead” (124),
33 years old (37), high blood pressure (208) (2-11,
12-24, 25-57, 58-95, 96-122, [124], [125], [131], [133], [146],
[147], 151-177, 178-183, 186-217, 218-253, [255], [256]) |
(2) |
Booth, Paul |
Elizabeth's husband, heavy drinker,
adopted, military school (“southern officer,” 8), injured (8,
45), “a kind of a consultant” (8), “the bagman” (8, 190), “a
media consultant,” (45), promoting campaign of “Christian Recovery
for America's People” on behalf of Ude, plans to turn Longview
into a media center (46, 86), “official spokesman” (78), “he's
crazy” (88), “this inferior person” (90), “fucking Paul” (175), “this
big wounded hero” (91), has been "fragged" by his crew
chief (240), fired from the VCR company (175), gets mugged (200),
he “knows as much about finance as some snot nosed sixth grader” (Slotko,
209), "Paul the jew who didn't even know it" (241), "the
big Lightning Division hero" (225), "a killer without
a war to go to" (225), kills his mugger (247), tells Elizabeth
he is going to be arrested for bribery (231, 233), "nobody
likes Paul no" (236) ([3], [5-8], 9-24, [33], [34], 38-57,
[61], 68-88, [90-92], 96-115, [119], [120], [169], [170], [174],
[175], [178-179], [186], [190], 199-217, [223-224], [225], [229],
(231-232), [233-234], [236], [238-242], [244], [246], 254-262) |
[3] (9) |
Mr. Booth |
Paul's father, telling Paul “he wasn't
good enough to be an enlisted man,” later Elizabeth tells Billy
that Paul was adopted (193) ([91], [193]) |
[91] |
boy |
Paul's son from a native mistress
he left behind in Vietnam ([260]) |
[?] |
boys |
Playing with dead pidgeon at the
beginning of the novel (1, 35, 64, 217, 428, 262) |
(1) |
Brian |
Friend of Irene, who triggered McCandless'
jealousy, wants to go to Yucatán to live with the Indians, “just
a damned kid […] stringy beard and sandals” (160) ((94), (160)) |
(94) |
Burmese |
One of Edie's lovers, went off with
all her traveller checks ([33], [41], [98]) |
[33] |
Chick |
Paul's RTO (radiotelephone operator), “old
peckerhead” (213), rescues Paul when he got "fragged" by
his crew chief in Vietnam (213, 240) ([69], [114], (213), (214),
[232], [239], (260)) |
[69] |
Chigger  |
Crew chief in Vietnam, nineteen
at the time, Paul turned him in for heroin, tried to kill Paul
by rolling a hand grenade under his bed, reminds Paul of the
Massai warrior on McCandless's Natural
History magazine (84), ([84], [213], [240]) (see note 66.20 : http://williamgaddis.inwriting.org/gothic/gothicnotes3.shtml .
) |
[84] |
Chin, Doris |
Feature writer ([78], [82], [108])
(see note 82.17 : http://williamgaddis.inwriting.org/gothic/gothicnotes3.shtml .) |
[78] |
Cowpie |
Friend of Billy from Akron , Buddhist
([34]) |
[34] |
Cruikshank |
Lester's Chief of Station (COS) in
Matidi (130), "twisted, rotting, bent old tree" (236), "the
successful survivor" (236) ([130], [131-132], [141-142],
[143], [146], [209], [234-237], [239]) |
[130] |
Drucker |
Paul's fellow soldier in Vietnam
, has a collection of ears ([213]) |
[213] |
Fickert, Billey |
Wayne 's mother, “vivacious dark
haired woman,” she is meant to play a role in a movie called “The
Wayne Fickert Story” (101) ([70], [81], [87], (94), [101], [170],
[178], [201], [202], [261]) |
[70] |
Fickert, Earl |
Wayne's father, working in automobile
business in Mississippi, running a junkyard in Mississippi (207),
wants to sue Ude for negligence, manslaughter (207), once came
after Ude with an axe (261) ([82], [207], [261]) |
[82] |
Fickert, Wayne |
Nine-year-old boy drowned during
baptism by Reverend Ude (see
also Frolic 426-432), in South Carolina's Pee Dee River; Wayne
Fickert Bible Collegebible named after him, originally to be called
Bobbie Joe Ude Bible College after Elton Ude's son (80, 102), "Willey
Fickert" (239) ([47], [70] [78], [79], [80], [102], [179],
[190], [239]) |
[47] |
Gates, Pearly |
Accompanying Rev. Ude's sermon at
the grave of Wayne Fickert musically with his baritone, in a
wheelchair, war veteran, wearing the Good Conduct medal, “this
huge black guy” (178),”holding off the Federal Marshals with
an M16” in the Christian Survival camp in Smackover (243) ([81],
[82], [104], [114], [212], [215], [243]) (see note 81.23 : http://williamgaddis.inwriting.org/gothic/gothicnotes3.shtml ) |
[81] |
girl |
Girl looking for her black dog (257-258) |
(257) |
Mr. Gold |
Name invented for someone working
at Saks, phoned to tell Elizabeth her purse had been found, presumably
involved in robbery at the house ([219]) |
[219] |
Mr. Grimes |
Edie's father, also involved in trust
of father, chairman in father's company, sits on board of the
airline, on whose plane Liz had the accident, also on the board
of the airline's insurance company, successor of VCR (17), “this
close friend of Senator Teakell” (222), "the successful
survivor" (236) ([5], [6], [16], [21], [33], [41-42], [46],
[77], [86], [99], [106], [107], [174], [204-205], [207], [209],
[231], [233-237], [258], [259], [260]) |
[5] |
Grimes, Cissie |
Edie's mother, giving a benefit for
Jack Orsini raising money for the foundation F R Voraker's had
set up ([207]) |
[207] |
Grimes, Edie |
Elizabeth's “childhood friend” (255), “a
flaky blonde” (40) ([16-17], [21], (32-35), [39-42], [66], [77],
[88], [97], [99], [156], [206], [222], [231], [252], [256], 262) |
[16] |
Grimes, Squeekie |
Edie's sister, once passed out naked
in father's bathroom ([21], [34], [41]) |
[21] |
Grissom |
Lawyer ([54], [71]) |
[54] |
Grocery man |
Bringing what Elizabeth had ordered
for dinner with McCandless (199) |
(199) |
Guy from Florida |
Also some friend of Elizabeth, who
wanted to become a great actor ([89]) |
[89] |
Gwen |
Character in McCandless' novel, based
on Irene ([137]) |
[137] |
homeless |
“that bum that drowned they buried
in the county cemetery” (207) (mentioned in two other places…) |
[?] |
Indian Mexican |
Also involved in business with Grimes
etc. [21] |
[21] |
Irene |
McCandless's second wife, left him
two years before the novel's opening, “pretty” (132) ([53], [65],
[“66”], [67], [94], [“120”], [132], [145], [“251”]) |
[53] |
Jeannie |
“…the one [McCandless] had down in
the Bureau of Mines she lived on DuPoint Circle ” (148) ([148]) |
[148] |
Jheejheeboy |
Fromer husband (255) of Edie, Indian,
they are separated ([41], [42], [98], [255]) |
[41] |
kid |
Skinny nineteen year old kid, who
mugged Paul, killed by Paul ("Viet Vet kills mugg," 247),
reminds Paul of the crew chief, who tried to kill him in Vietnam
([200], [213], [225-226], [240]) |
[200?] |
Kinkead, Frank |
Character in McCandless' novel, based
on McCandless himself ([136], [137], [139], [144], [146]) |
[136] |
Dr. Kissinger |
Doctor, leaving for Europe , “the
famed shuttle surgeon, who leaves tomorrow for Johannesburg to
perform a colostomy on the President of South Af” (208) ([15],
[50], [62], [84], [208], [258], [260]) |
[15] |
Klinger |
Former superior of McCandless, has
been killed (127) ([127], [131-132], [133], [134], [139], [140-141],
[143-144], [238-239]) |
[127] |
Kowalski |
Paul's fellow soldier in Vietnam
, gets crazy "out there," gets killed ([213]) |
[212] |
Landsteiner |
Also involved in trust of Vorakers
([6]) |
[6] |
Lea |
Aunt Lea, Edie's “terrible old aunt,” died
at age 96 ([42], [88], [97]) |
[42] |
Lester |
former collegue of McCandless, has
a close-cropped head, hard little round eyes, a speckled tweed
jacket, kind of yellow (60), narrow shoulders, “you're the missionary,
you're the skinny kid in the cheap black suit, the black tie
and that cheap white shirt” (McCandless, 125), thirteen when
he was ordained (128), "the locals took him for some kind
of intelligence" (234), "cold blooded fervour in those
hard little eyes" (234) (36-37, [60], [62], [119], 123-148,
[234-236], [238-239]) |
(36) |
Lilly |
Father's secretary and his mistress
for twenty years, she inherits a house (' Bedford '), had an
airplane accident four years ago (16) ([7], [16]) |
[7] |
Mr. Lopots |
Doctor Gustav Schak's attorney, F
X Lopots Attorney, called by McCandless on behalf of “Doctor
Schak versus Booth” (171) ([48], [163], [170], (170)) |
[48] [163] |
man |
Man from the newspaper, looking around
the house after Elizabeth's death (255-257) |
(255) |
McCandless Senior |
Father of McCandless, like his son
suffering from arthritis at an early age ([251]) |
[251] |
Mr. McCandless |
The house's landlord (they are behind
two months' rent, 133), geologist, “man somewhat older […] cool
grey calm of his eyes” (in Liz's novel, 64), “he's a criminal
[…] up for sentencing […] for felony” (Paul, 74), strong smoker,
lost a thumb it seems (125) has written a novel (124), appears
as expert witness in trials in Smackover over teaching science
in schools (53, 126), has written for science journals (126),
for schoolbooks (134), writing for textbooks, for encyclopaedias
as “a fresh start” (166), IRS froze his bank account (130), “sort
of a neat old guy” (192), arthritis, coughs a lot (250), in the
end sells out to the CIA accepting $ 16,000 Lester had offered
him (246) ([2], [15], [20-21], [27-28], [48], 59-63, 64-68, [73],
118-150, 151-172, 176-192, 193-196, 218-246, [255]) |
[2] |
Mrs. McCandless |
Wife of McCandless, they have separated
([20-21], [29], [36], [37], [“65-66”], [“67”], 248-252) |
[20] |
McCandless, Jack |
McCandless's son, once attended school
with Billy, “this kid in school named McCandless […] sort of
a neat kid,” Billy still owes him two hundred dollars (176) ([176-177],
[249], [252]) |
[176] |
McFardle, Jim |
Someone Paul knows ([71], [85], [199]) |
[71] |
Mullins, Sheila |
Girl-friend of Billy, into Buddhist
religion, she wants a Buddhist service for Billy (256) ([9],
[21], [34], [85], [173], [174], [256]) |
[9] |
Mr. Mullins |
Sheila's father, Owner of a dry-cleaner
on the east side (34), “the poor man” (38) ([34], [38], (95),
[172-173]) |
[34] (38) |
Nigerian |
Young Nigerian, studying medicine
in the US , selling zebra hides to pay medical school, sold one
to McCandless ([250]) |
[250] |
nurse |
Bitchy nurse working for Dr. Kissinger
([50], [162]) |
[50] |
Old man |
Neighbour of the Booths, “shade,” “the
old celebrant out there, broom and flattened dustpan,” “he finally
drove me out of this house,” “I learned to hate him” (168) (McCandless,
166) (123) (58, 61, 166-168, [244], 258) |
(58) |
Orsini, Jack |
Doctor, on neurologist convention
in Geneva, Liz's father had set up a “research thing” for him,
8 million dollar foundation (15, 40), friend of Edie (32), ([14-15],
[32], [34], [40-41], [71], [72-73], [84], [113], [207], [258],
[260]) |
[14] |
prostitute |
“that slut who worked the New Stanley,” (133)
disappeared with her “husband” after alleged murder of Klinger
([133]) |
[133] |
Riddle |
Character in McCandless novel based
on Cruikshank ([130]) |
[130] |
Schak, Gustav |
Doctor, having done spirometry on
Liz (14), one visit $ 260, “that lovely man,” on vacation, playing
golf in Palm Springs (34) ([14-15], [48], [50], [162-163], [171]) |
[14] |
Seiko |
Collegue of McCandless and Lester
([124], [141]) |
[124] |
Slotko |
Washington lawyer, with “top contacts
inside the Administration” (106), Paul gets him to work on VCR's
stock options, “he's just their Jew in the window” (Paul, 209)
([105], [106], [109], [169-170), [200], [208-209], [258]) |
[105) |
Slyke |
Character in McCandless novel, Mormon
(148), based on Lester ([129], [136]) |
[129] |
Sneddiger |
Doing business with Adolph, working
at bank, offering Paul legal counsel ([5], [71], [86]) |
[5] |
Madame Socrate |
Cleaning woman from Haiti , already
worked for McCandless [33] ([23], 25-31, [55], [56], [75], [76],
[107], (226), [245]) |
[23] |
Solant |
Former collegue of McCandless, “forging
passports, tapping tele…” (130) ([130]) |
[130] |
Somali |
“Thin lipped Somali” (131) working
with Lester at some time in the past, "they had [him] ten
years on for stealing some truck tires" (234) ([131], [234-235]) |
[131] |
Steyner, Bobbie |
Friend of Elizabeth from childhood, “they
said [he] had only one ball” (90) ([90]) (see note: 90.1 : http://williamgaddis.inwriting.org/gothic/gothicnotes3.shtml ) |
|
Stumpp |
Connected to Doctor Schak, ([48],
[“59”], (162-163), [171]) |
[48] |
Sweet, Victor |
African American senatorial candidate,
Edie says he's charming, Paul says he has a prison record, (97),
McCandless tells another story (222), “black marshmellow” in
Grimes' words (222) ([43-45], [77], [97-98], [106], [206-207],
[221], [222]) |
[43] |
Teakell |
“the best senator money could buy,” senator
in Washington, “been in there for thirty years,” Food for Africa
program (77), “this old crud senator” (175), on a fact finding
tour in Africa, "[Grimes] owned Teakell didn't he" (236),
Teakell family seed company got the patent on hybrid corn strains
(237), dies in airplane (247, 261) ([34], [44-45], (61), [69],
[77], [85], [97], [98], [106], [107], [175], [199], [205], [207],
[212], [221-222], [233-234], [236-237], [238], [258]) (see note 44.4 : http://williamgaddis.inwriting.org/gothic/gothicnotes2.shtml ) |
[34] |
Teakell, Cettie |
Girl from Saint Tim's Elizabeth and
Edie used to know, childhood friend of Elizabeth, daughter of
senator Teakell, has a car accident, Paul spends $ 260 on flowers
for her (88), staying in a hospital in Texas (99), suing the
car company on whose board Grimes is sitting (205) ([34], [44],
[76-77], [88], [99], [107], [204-205], [206], [221-222]) |
[34] |
Dr. Terranova |
The airline insurance company's doctor
([61], [72], [109], [208]) |
[61] |
Tibetan |
Skinny Tibetan, Sheila “took off
[with] for the ashram in Jersey ” ([173]) |
[173] |
Ude, Betty Joe |
Ude's older daughter ([103]) |
[103] |
Ude, Bobbie Joe |
Ude's son ((101-105), [108], [114],
(260-262)) |
(101) |
Ude, daughter |
Ude's younger daughter, still wetting
her pants ([103]) |
[103] |
Ude, Elton |
Evangelical preacher from the rural
South, one of Paul's 'clients' (13), “Voice of Salvation” radio
station in Africa, bible school in South Carolina (47), “old
buddy” (50), reminds Liz of a red-breasted merganser (52), about
four feet tall, “the dynamic leader of Christian Recovery for
America's People (78), send by Paul to visit Cettie Teakell at
the hospital to impress senator Teakell (99), “that redneck creep” (178), “the
plague” (179), his enemies say he is “a mail order minister someplace
in Modesto California” (207), "that loathsome little Reverend
Ude" (231), wounded (“Preacher shot in bribe case,” 260)
([9-10], [13], [19], [24], (37), [39], [45-47], (50), (51), [52],
[71], [73], [78-82], [83], [99], [101-105], [107], [111-113],
[114], [178-179], [181-182], [185], [187], [204], [205], [207],
[209], [214], [221], [223-224], [231], [234], [236], [238-239],
[243]) (see note 10.11 : http://williamgaddis.inwriting.org/gothic/gothicnotes1.shtml ) |
[9] |
Mrs. Ude |
Ude's wife, “ran off with a salesman
last year” ([110]) |
[110] |
Ude, Sally Joe |
Elton Ude's mother, got married with
fourteen ([110-113]) |
[110] |
Urich |
Sergeant Urich, "some dipshit
sergeant" (213) ((108), [213]) |
(108) |
Vorakers, F.R. |
Elizabeth's and Billy's father, “the
old man,” head of Vorakers Consolidated Reserve (VCR, 229), “this
advisor to presidents, this master of corporate strategy, master
of this far flung mining empire master of bullshit” (Billy, 90), “late
mineral tycoon” (255), committed suicide eight or nine years
before the novel opens (154), shooting himself (233), Elizabeth
tells McCandless he was pushed from a train roof (152, 226) ([5],
[6], [7], [15], [18], [33-34], [86], [90-91], [105], [106], [152],
[154], [174], [177-178], [193], [223], [226], [229], [255]) |
[5] |
Mrs. Vorakers |
Elizabeth's and Billy's mother, in
a nursing home in New Jersey called Hopewell (92), she hated
Longview (173), “the old lady's a vegetable” (258) ([34-35],
[65], [90], [173], [228], [258]) |
[34] |
Vorakers, Billy |
Elizabeth's brother, “he's crazy” (Paul,
13), twenty four years old, having odd jobs here and there, called
Jennifer by his sister in play when three (90), rents Sheila's
apartment in California to other people (173), an “unseemly parody” of
his sister (177), dies when plane is shot down before the coast
of Africa (236, 237), picture of him from his school yearbook
in the newspaper (225), having a fight with Paul the day before
he flies off to Africa (242) (3-9, [10], 11-12, [13], [17-18],
[20-21], [22], [34], [38], [41], 85-92), 87-92, [154], 172-196,
[223-224], [229], [231], [233], [237], [241-242], [244], [256],
[258]) |
(2) |
William |
Uncle of Liz and Billy, staying in
Payne Whitney (13) ([6], [13], [98], [258]) (cp. note 13.10 : http://williamgaddis.inwriting.org/gothic/gothicnotes1.shtml ) |
[6] |
Woman |
Woman from Pee Dee Citizen bank at
Wayne Fickert's funeral, eating Cheez Doodles ([74]) |
[74] |
Dr. Yount |
Another doctor in whose waiting room
Elizabeth sat ([49], [62], [170], [202]) |
[49] |
|
