John’s Grandmother / Harriet Wheelwright Character Analysis

John’s grandmother. Harriet was widowed from a young age, but she took great satisfaction in managing her family and her house herself. She was descended from John Adams, and her family first came to America on the Mayflower. She married a Wheelwright, which was a very important family in Gravesend. She was a traditional puritanical New Englander and a highborn elitist who greatly minded her reputation, but she loved her daughters, Tabitha and Martha, and her grandchildren very much. She generously took in her longtime maid, Lydia, after Lydia lost her leg to cancer, and hired a pair of maids, Ethel and Germaine, to look after both her and Lydia. She also served as Owen Meany’s benefactor when he needed help purchasing a private school uniform and school supplies. She eventually became obsessed with television and died while channel surfing. She maintained her proud spirit until the end, demanding to be royally catered to.