Normal People Characters

One of the novel’s two protagonists, Marianne is from the fictional town of Carricklea in Ireland. Extremely intelligent, Marianne is unpopular in secondary school. Everyone thinks she’s “weird”—some people even call her “ugly.” She doesn’t… read analysis of Marianne

Connell is one of the two protagonists of Normal People. Reserved and shy, he’s from the fictional Irish town of Carricklea, where he’s one of the most popular boys in school. Everyone admires him… read analysis of Connell

Lorraine is Connell’s mother. A kind and caring person, she has a casual but close relationship with her son. Part of their closeness might have to do with the fact that she’s quite young—she… read analysis of Lorraine (Connell’s Mother)

Eric is one of Connell’s friends in secondary school. Popular and confident, Eric bullies Marianne, making jokes about her with Rob and Rachel. Years later, he regrets the way he treated her… read analysis of Eric

Rachel is the most popular girl at Connell and Marianne’s secondary school. Everybody knows she has a crush on Connell, but Connell is uninterested in her in a romantic way. She’s especially mean to… read analysis of Rachel

Alan is Marianne’s older brother, who still lives at home with their mother. He’s verbally and physically abusive to Marianne, often looking for ways to get into arguments with her. Not all of these… read analysis of Alan (Marianne’s Brother)

Denise is Marianne’s mother. A widow, she’s rich and successful but emotionally removed from her role as a mother. She’s rarely home, and when she is, she tends to unfairly criticize Marianne. She also… read analysis of Denise (Marianne’s Mother)

Joanna is one of the friends Marianne makes at college in Dublin. Unlike her other close friend, Peggy, Joanna takes Marianne’s side when she and Jamie break up, eventually revealing that she never really… read analysis of Joanna

Peggy is one of Marianne’s friends at Trinity College in Dublin. She’s opinionated and judgmental, but Marianne spends a lot of time with her throughout her first years in college, especially since Peggy considers… read analysis of Peggy

Jamie is a wealthy, entitled student at Trinity College, one of the boyfriends Marianne dates when she’s not with Connell. Even though he’s not all that intelligent, Jamie acts very condescendingly toward most people… read analysis of Jamie

Lukas is a photographer Marianne dates while studying abroad in Sweden. He isn’t very attentive to who Marianne is as a person. Instead, he’s more interested in taking provocative pictures of her and playing what… read analysis of Lukas

Niall is Connell’s college roommate. Connell likes Niall quite a bit and rooms with him for more than just his first year. Unlike many of the people around Connell, Niall isn’t stuck-up or entitled… read analysis of Niall

Miss Neary is the economics teacher at Connell and Marianne’s secondary school. Everyone in school jokes about how Connell wants to have sex with Miss Neary, but this joke upsets him. It’s true, though… read analysis of Miss Neary

Helen is one of Connell’s girlfriends at Trinity College. Connell feels strongly about her, thinking that she brings out the best in him. He even compares her to Marianne and decides that, although what… read analysis of Helen

Sadie is a student at Trinity College. She helps run the school’s literary journal and encourages Connell’s writing, even convincing him at one point to let her publish one of his stories. She also urges… read analysis of Sadie