Characters From Johnny's Childhood
Main
Characters
Early Characters
Late
Characters
Minor
Characters
Real
Characters
Here are some of the more minor characters from early in
Johnny's life.
Mr. Fish- Harriet Wheelwright's curious and
commonplace neighbor. He is what Johnny calls the "quintissential neighbor".
Someone who is just like everyone's image of what a neighbor should be.
Noah Eastman- Johnny's oldest cousin. He avoided Vietnam by joining the
Peace Corps. He was the first to suggest the game "Last One Through The House
Has To Kiss Hester", the game which Johnny secretly enjoyed.
Simon
Eastman- Johnny's second oldest cousin, the "wilder" of the three. He avoided
Vietnam due to injuries to his knees while skiing. He is the one who enjoyed to
be beaten by his older brother Noah. Came up with the name "Hester the
Molester".
Firewater- The Eastman's slobbering boxer.
Alfred
Eastman- Noah, Simon and Hester's father. Married to Martha Wheelwright, the
sister of Tabitha. Had triple bypass surgery in his later years.
Watahantowet- The Native American sagamore who signed over ownership of
the land on which Gravesend was built to the English with a totem with no arms.
Buzzy Thurston- Hit the lazy grounder which should have ended the
fateful baseball game. Later was killed in a car accident while under the
influence of drugs and/or alcohol on Maiden Hill Road near the Meany Granite
Quarry. The drugs and alcohol were a desperate attempt to avoid Vietnam.
Harold Crosby- The second angel, Owen's replacement in the rafters of
the Episcopal Church during the Chirstmas Pagent of 1952. His clumsiness won him
the part.
Harry Hoyt- The one who walked and brought Owen up to bat
during the fateful game. He served in Vietnam in the Navy and was killed by a
pit viper's bite while he was peeing under a tree outside a Vietnamese brothel.
His mother became a rabid anti-Vietnam activist after his death, her opinions on
the war eventually cost her a job and forced her out of Gravesend.
Caroline O'Day- Daugher of Larry O'Day, the owner of the car dealership.
She is a parochial school student who is described by Johnny as being
"aggressive as a corvette" when it came to boys. Friend of Maureen Early.
Maureen Early- Reputed to have wet her pants twice while viewing
performances by Owen as the Ghost Of Christmas Yet to Come. Her father, a
teacher at the Academy, was a supporter of Owen during the rough encounters with
Mr. White.
Amanda Dowling- Played the part of The Ghost Of Christmas
Past. An extreme feminist and practiced the art of role reversal with her
husband, Arthur.
Arthur Dowling- Amanda's husband. He and his wife were
very interested in creating sexual role reversals. The possibility of them
having children was most disagreeable to Dan.
Chief Ben Pike- The chief
of police who asked for the ball, the "instrument of death", the "murder weapon"
in the death of Tabitha Wheelwright. In his teens, Johnny would date his
daughter, Lorna.
Mr. Chickering- The coach of Owen and Johnny's Little
League team and the first to reach Tabitha's body when she was killed. He
rearranged her body to a more comfortable and modest position. His traumatic
experience at that game scarred him for the rest of his life.
Reverend
Dudley Wiggin- The Rector of the Episcopal church. The "bumpkin of boredom" as
Johnny described him. A retired airline pilot, he has a tendency to be a pulpit
thumper during sermons.
Barbara Wiggin- Rector Wiggin's wife, a
"backslapping redhead" who thought Owen as cute until his performance in the
Christmas Pagent in 1953.
Germaine- The maid brought in to replace
Lydia. She gave Johnny his first feelings of lust and wa a disaster around the
house. She evetually resigned.
Ethel- The other maid brought in to
replace Lydia. She exhibited a brute, mindless strength which made her suited
for the job, but wholly uninteresting as a person.
Lydia- Harriet
Wheelwright's first maid. She was Harriet's best friend and had to have her leg
amputated when she developed cancer. She was confined to a wheelchair for the
rest of her life and died the night of Owen's final performance as the Ghost of
Christmas Yet To Come. Her death was marked by her striking resemblance to the
woman she served for a large portion of her life.
Donny Kennmore- The
rhuematic fever boy too ill to play baseball. His father was a butcher and
played the part of Marley's Ghost.
Mary Beth Baird- The Virgin Mary in
the Christmas pagent. She marries a farmer's son after having his child. She is
in attendance at Owen's funeral. It is her cow costumes which contribute to the
chaos at the christmas pagent.
Dan's Family- They are in attendance at
Dan and Tabitha's wedding, but they did not approve of the marriage. They
thought of Tabitha as being dishonorable as to have a child out of wedlock.
Lorna Pike- Chief Ben Pike's daughter. Johnny dates her in later years.
Mr. Morrison- The "cowardly mailman". He has the part of the Ghost of
Christmas Yet To Come, but passes on the part when he discovers there are no
speaking lines. The part later goes to Owen.
Larry O'Day- Caroline
O'Day's father. He plays the part of Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol.
Mr. Early- Maureen's father. He is a teacher at the Academy, and later
becomes an ardent supporter of "The Voice".
The Meanys- I guess I wil
put them here, even though they come up later in the novel as well. They are
Owen's parents, the ones who had the audacity to tell an eleven year old boy he
was a virgin birth. Owen appears ashamed of them and tries to separate himself
from them as much as possible.
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