Rob Character Analysis in Normal People

Rob is one of Connell’s friends in secondary school. Like Eric and Rachel, Rob bullies Marianne in front of Connell, but Connell doesn’t stand up for her. Later, when Connell is away at Trinity in Dublin, Rob takes his own life. The last Connell had heard from him was when Rob sent him a Facebook message about a picture in which Connell was with a young woman—Rob jokingly asked if Connell was “riding” her, but Connell never responded. In the aftermath of his friend’s death, Connell feels guilty for not being there for Rob when he was going through a hard time, and he plunges into a deep depression.

Rob Character Timeline in Normal People

The timeline below shows where the character Rob appears in Normal People. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

In school that week, Connell’s friend Rob asked him what it was like for his mother to clean Marianne’s house. He wanted... (full context)

The next day, Connell went to school and listened to his friends Rob and Eric tease him about taking Marianne home from the fundraiser. They asked if anything... (full context)

...drunk too, but he still looked down on them for being inebriated. At one point Rob showed him and Eric naked pictures of his date. Eric laughed, but Connell pointed out... (full context)

...him into the office, he eventually explains that he started feeling depressed after learning that Rob, his friend from school, recently died by suicide. (full context)

Connell found out about Rob’s death in January. Since then, everyone has been posting on Facebook about suicide awareness, and... (full context)

Miscommunication and Assumptions Theme Icon

Connell is no longer dating Helen. She came back to Carricklea with him for Rob’s funeral, but her presence didn’t do much to improve his mood. He felt awkward and... (full context)

...at Trinity. Weirdly enough, he didn’t feel like he had that much in common with Rob, either, but back then it didn’t matter: in secondary school, everyone knew each other and... (full context)

...outside with her to smoke. Meanwhile, Marianne talked to Eric, who drunkenly told her that Rob would have wanted to apologize to her for how he treated her in school. Marianne... (full context)