Ana Character Analysis in A Little Life

Ana was Jude’s only social worker. She began working his case after Dr. Traylor’s attack and helped Jude through his recovery. Before Willem, Ana was the only person in whom he confided the details of his traumatic childhood. Ana genuinely cared about Jude and encouraged him to apply to college, and when Jude was accepted to a prestigious university in Boston, he attributed his success to her (though Ana guffawed at this, insisting that Jude had only himself to thank for his success). Ana encouraged Jude to open up about his past, promising him that it will help him to heal. But she also warned him that it would only become more difficult to talk about everything the longer Jude waited. Ana dies of cancer the summer before Jude leaves for college, and her death is very difficult for him—so difficult that he even considers suicide.

Ana Quotes in A Little Life

The A Little Life quotes below are all either spoken by Ana or refer to Ana . 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:

“You’ll find your own way to discuss what happened to you,” he remembers Ana saying. “You’ll have to, if you ever want to be close to anyone.” He wishes, as he often does, that he had let her […] teach him how to do it. His silence had begun as something protective, but over the years it has transformed into something […] that manages him rather than the other way around. […] He imagines he is floating in a small bubble of water, encased on all sides by walls and ceilings and floors of ice, all many feet thick. He knows there is a way out, but he is unequipped; he has no tools to begin his work […]. He had thought that by not saying who he was, he was making himself more palatable, less strange. But now, what he doesn’t say makes him stranger, an object of pity and even suspicion.

Related Characters: Ana (speaker), Ana , Jude St. Francis, Willem Ragnarsson

Page Number and Citation: 339

Explanation and Analysis:

Ana Character Timeline in A Little Life

The timeline below shows where the character Ana appears in A Little Life. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

It was Ana, Jude’s only social worker and the only person who didn’t betray him, who convinced him... (full context)

...back to Jude’s time at the hospital. In the weeks after he first wakes up, Ana brings him books. Jude knows Ana is a social worker the court has assigned to... (full context)

Ana facilitates Jude’s transfer into a home with the Douglasses, an evangelical Lutheran family that fosters... (full context)

When the doctors tell Jude that he isn’t strong enough to go to school yet, Ana finds him a tutor. She also makes him consider going to college. His teachers in... (full context)

When Jude learns that he’s been accepted on a full scholarship, he tells Ana it’s all because of her. “Bullshit,” she replies. But by now, Ana is very sick... (full context)

Ana continues to urge Jude to talk about what happened to him—it’s an important step in... (full context)

Ana dies two weeks later, on July 3rd. Not long after, the Douglasses move to San... (full context)

...things arrive next. Seeing all the fancy things Malcolm has, Jude feels momentarily angry with Ana—how could she have thought he’d fit in here? Months pass, and Jude feels a little... (full context)

Jude thinks about Brother Luke every day. Later, Jude will tell Ana that while he knows that Luke hurt and lied to him, he knows that Luke... (full context)

Jude “bec[o]me[s] an adult” after the accident. Ana once told him that everything would get better. She meant Jude’s legs, but she meant... (full context)

Jude remembers what Ana said to him all those years ago: “You have to tell someone.” Jude told Willem,... (full context)

Ana Character Analysis

Ana Quotes in A Little Life

Part 4: The Axiom of Equality: Chapter 1 Quotes

Ana Character Timeline in A Little Life