Strangers in Their Own Land Characters

The mother-in-law of one of Hochschild’s former graduate students. Cappel first introduced Hochschild to Louisiana and housed her in Lake Charles.

A close friend of Sally Cappel’s since college. The two could not be more different politically: Sally is a “progressive Democrat” and Shirley is “an enthusiast for the Tea Party and Donald Trump.”

Harold’s wife, who is also a cancer survivor and works as a janitor at nearby high school.

An activist and member of the organization Riverkeepers who lives in a cabin near the Sabine river, tries to sustain the memory of the indigenous peoples who once lived in the area, and hosts groups of “prayer warriors” who assemble to pray for the river.

A mother and bookkeeper who lives near a petrochemical plant and worries constantly about the possibility of an accident.

A 73-year-old chemical physicist and former Louisiana State University professor who also headed the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality for four years and oversaw a remarkable decline in pollution. He debunks many of the oil industry’s myths for Hochschild in Chapter 5.

Louisiana’s Republican Governor from 2008-2016. Jindal drastically educed taxes on the oil industry, cutting 30,000 public sector jobs and taking over $1 billion from schools and hospitals to compensate. He denies—or, more precisely, refuses to talk about—climate change and opposes expanding anti-pollution regulations.

Louisiana’s governor from 1928-1932, during the early years of the Great Depression. Long taxed oil companies heavily and spent the revenue on infrastructure and social programs, which Hochschild sees as way to use oil money for good and contrasts with Bobby Jindal’s incentive policy.

A former telephone repairman and devout churchgoer who invites friends and family over for dinner parties. He moderates the discussions, which inevitably turn political.

Brother Cappy’s wife.