Lee Sherman Character Analysis

A former PPG pipe fitter who was ordered to illegally dump toxic waste into the bayou, got sick from the exposure he suffered while doing so, and was ordered to go on medical leave and then summarily fired for not showing up to work. Seven years later, he exposed the source of the pollution, became an environmental activist, and helped Condea Vista workers sue their irresponsible employer—but now, he is resolutely anti-government and active in the Tea Party. He is ambivalent toward PPG—he hates its management but still proudly owns stock in the company and credits it for giving him a livelihood—but truly hates the government, which he thinks is cheating him out of well-deserved social security money. Yet, before moving to Louisiana, he used to be a Democrat—Hochschild sees his exposure of PPG and turn against the government as attempts at revenge on institutions that have wronged him. By the end of the book, he is a fanatic Donald Trump supporter.