Ron Character Analysis in The Glass Hotel

Ron works on Floor 17, in the asset management branch of Jonathan Alkaitis’s business. He’s the only employee who doesn’t seem to grasp that he and his coworkers are doing anything illegal. After the collapse of Alkaitis’s Ponzi scheme, Ron manages to avoid prison time, though his marriage falls apart, forcing him to move back in with his parents. When the novel ends, he has a job taking tickets at a movie theater.

Ron Character Timeline in The Glass Hotel

The timeline below shows where the character Ron appears in The Glass Hotel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...temporary relief. Simone enters the room with coffee and senses that something is gravely wrong. Ron smiles at her, but Joelle, Oskar, Enrico, and Harvey can only stare blankly ahead. Alkaitis... (full context)

...already been crossed.” Everyone at the company knows what the company does, except for maybe Ron, though it seems crazy that Ron wouldn’t know that the company was running a Ponzi... (full context)

...for a walk to stop herself from panicking, Enrico buys a ticket to Mexico, and Ron distracts himself by watching inane internet videos. Oskar looks up real estate prices in foreign... (full context)

...because of everyone’s decision to change their memory of the party “to fit personal narratives.” Ron’s wife, Sheila, joins them, as does Joelle’s husband, Gareth, and Harvey’s wife, Elaine. Finally, Alkaitis... (full context)

In the future, the employees will have different takes on Alkaitis’s demeanor that night: Ron will remember him as seeming normal, and Oskar will remember him appearing off. When Alkaitis... (full context)

...served and has since moved to New Jersey to live in his sister’s basement. Though Ron isn’t convicted, he’s now divorced and lives with his parents in Rochester. After her release... (full context)