Normal People

by

Sally Rooney

Lorraine (Connell’s Mother) Character Analysis

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 had Connell when she was just 17 and didn’t involve his father in their life. She works as a housecleaner for Marianne’s family and is very fond of Marianne herself, so she’s happy when she discovers that Connell and Marianne are together. However, Connell makes it clear that they’re not officially together, which concerns Lorraine because she doesn’t want her son to “use” Marianne for sex. Similarly, she’s incensed when he tells her that he asked someone else to the end-of-year dance instead of Marianne—so incensed that she forces him to pull the car over in the pouring rain and decides to walk home because she doesn’t want to say something to him that she might regret. Throughout the rest of Connell and Marianne’s tumultuous relationship, Lorraine supports Connell emotionally while gently urging him to be forthright about his feelings for Marianne.

Lorraine (Connell’s Mother) Quotes in Normal People

The Normal People quotes below are all either spoken by Lorraine (Connell’s Mother) or refer to Lorraine (Connell’s Mother). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Love, Inexperience, and Emotional Intensity Theme Icon
).
1. January 2011 Quotes

Well, you're smarter than me.

Don't feel bad. I'm smarter than everyone.

Marianne is grinning now. She exercises an open contempt for people in school. She has no friends and spends her lunch-times alone reading novels. A lot of people really hate her. Her father died when she was thirteen and Connell has heard she has a mental illness now or something. It’s true she is the smartest person in school. He dreads being left alone with her like this, but he also finds himself fantasizing about things he could say to impress her.

Related Characters: Marianne (speaker), Connell (speaker), Lorraine (Connell’s Mother)
Page Number: 2
Explanation and Analysis:

Miss Neary teaches Economics. His supposed feelings for her are widely discussed in school. Some people are even saying that he tried to add her on Facebook, which he didn't and would never do. Actually he doesn't do or say anything to her, he just sits there quietly while she does and says things to him. She keeps him back after class sometimes to talk about his life direction, and once she actually touched the knot of his school tie. He can't tell people about the way she acts because they'll think he's trying to brag about it.

Related Characters: Marianne, Connell, Lorraine (Connell’s Mother), Miss Neary
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:
11. Six Weeks Later (September 2012) Quotes

He could just tell her about the situation and ask if he could stay in her place until September. He knew she would say yes. He thought she would say yes, it was hard to imagine her not saying yes. But he found himself putting off the conversation, putting off Niall’s enquiries about it, planning to bring it up with her and then at the last minute failing to. It just felt too much like asking her for money. He and Marianne never talked about money. They had never talked, for example, about the fact that her mother paid his mother money to scrub their floors and hang their laundry, or about the fact that this money circulated indirectly to Connell, who spent it, as often as not, on Marianne. He hated having to think about things like that. He knew Marianne never thought that way. She bought him things all the time, dinner, theatre tickets, things she would pay for and then instantly, permanently, forget about.

Related Characters: Marianne, Connell, Lorraine (Connell’s Mother), Denise (Marianne’s Mother), Niall
Page Number: 127
Explanation and Analysis:
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Lorraine (Connell’s Mother) Quotes in Normal People

The Normal People quotes below are all either spoken by Lorraine (Connell’s Mother) or refer to Lorraine (Connell’s Mother). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Love, Inexperience, and Emotional Intensity Theme Icon
).
1. January 2011 Quotes

Well, you're smarter than me.

Don't feel bad. I'm smarter than everyone.

Marianne is grinning now. She exercises an open contempt for people in school. She has no friends and spends her lunch-times alone reading novels. A lot of people really hate her. Her father died when she was thirteen and Connell has heard she has a mental illness now or something. It’s true she is the smartest person in school. He dreads being left alone with her like this, but he also finds himself fantasizing about things he could say to impress her.

Related Characters: Marianne (speaker), Connell (speaker), Lorraine (Connell’s Mother)
Page Number: 2
Explanation and Analysis:

Miss Neary teaches Economics. His supposed feelings for her are widely discussed in school. Some people are even saying that he tried to add her on Facebook, which he didn't and would never do. Actually he doesn't do or say anything to her, he just sits there quietly while she does and says things to him. She keeps him back after class sometimes to talk about his life direction, and once she actually touched the knot of his school tie. He can't tell people about the way she acts because they'll think he's trying to brag about it.

Related Characters: Marianne, Connell, Lorraine (Connell’s Mother), Miss Neary
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:
11. Six Weeks Later (September 2012) Quotes

He could just tell her about the situation and ask if he could stay in her place until September. He knew she would say yes. He thought she would say yes, it was hard to imagine her not saying yes. But he found himself putting off the conversation, putting off Niall’s enquiries about it, planning to bring it up with her and then at the last minute failing to. It just felt too much like asking her for money. He and Marianne never talked about money. They had never talked, for example, about the fact that her mother paid his mother money to scrub their floors and hang their laundry, or about the fact that this money circulated indirectly to Connell, who spent it, as often as not, on Marianne. He hated having to think about things like that. He knew Marianne never thought that way. She bought him things all the time, dinner, theatre tickets, things she would pay for and then instantly, permanently, forget about.

Related Characters: Marianne, Connell, Lorraine (Connell’s Mother), Denise (Marianne’s Mother), Niall
Page Number: 127
Explanation and Analysis: