Grace Character Analysis

Tom Kernan

Once a successful traveling salesman, middle-aged Tom Kernan has developed a binge drinking problem in recent years, which has led to a personal and professional decline. At the beginning of the story, Kernan has drunkenly… read analysis of Tom Kernan

Jack Power

Power is one of Tom Kernan’s closest friends; he’s employed in the Royal Irish Constabulary Office in Dublin Castle. After Kernan drunkenly falls in the pub and is about to be arrested by a… read analysis of Jack Power

Martin Cunningham

Cunningham is the eldest and most esteemed of the story’s main friend group (consisting of himself, Jack Power, M’Coy, and Tom Kernan). While Jack Power proposes the plan to bring Kernan to… read analysis of Martin Cunningham

Mr. M’Coy

Mr. M’Coy is one of the four men—in addition to Jack Power, Martin Cunningham, and Tom Kernan—who make up the main friend group in the story. Power and Cunningham enlist him to… read analysis of Mr. M’Coy

Mrs. Kernan

Mrs. Kernan has been married to Tom Kernan for 25 years, and they have five children together. She is a lifelong Catholic and remains faithful, though she also believes in some pagan elements of Irish… read analysis of Mrs. Kernan

Father Purdon

Father Purdon is the priest at a Catholic retreat that Kernan attends with his friends Power, Cunningham, and M’Coy in the hope that he will find redemption from his heavy drinking and general… read analysis of Father Purdon

Minor Characters

Mr. Fogarty

Mr. Fogarty, a grocer, is a friend of Mr. Kernan’s. He arrives at Kernan’s house toward the end of a long discussion between Kernan, Jack Power, Martin Cunningham, and Mr. M’Coy. After presenting Kernan with a bottle of whiskey as a gift, he joins in the men’s conversation.

Young Man in a Cycling-Suit

The young man, who’s wearing a cycling-suit, is a stranger who helps Kernan regain consciousness and get into a cab after his drunken fall down the stairs at the pub.

Constable

The constable is a police officer who arrives at the scene of Kernan’s accident at the pub. He takes a statement from the pub manager and asks Kernan for his information, but Kernan doesn’t cooperate.

Manager

The manager of the pub calls the police after Kernan’s fall down the stairs and gives the constable a statement about the accident.

Bartender

The bartender is one of three men at the pub who help Kernan back up the stairs after he falls.

Grace

James Joyce