Jack Wolff Character Analysis in Everything I Never Told You

Jack Wolff is a boy who lives on the same street as the Lee family. He has a reputation for taking the virginity of teenage girls, and Nath worries about the fact that he and Lydia spend time together. After Lydia’s death, Nath is convinced that Jack is somehow to blame; in reality, though, Jack is Lydia’s only real friend and he is secretly in love with Nath.

Jack Wolff Quotes in Everything I Never Told You

The Everything I Never Told You quotes below are all either spoken by Jack Wolff or refer to Jack Wolff. 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:

Appearances vs. Disappearances Theme Icon

The story––as it emerges from the teachers and the kids at school––is so

obvious. Lydia's quietness, her lack of friends. Her recent sinking grades. And, in truth, the strangeness of her family. A family with no friends, a family of misfits. All this shines so brightly that, in the eyes of the police, Jack falls into shadow. A girl like that and a boy like him, who can have––does have––any girl he wants? It is impossible for them to imagine what Nath knows to be true, let alone what he himself imagines.

Related Characters: , ,

Page Number and Citation: 112

Explanation and Analysis:

He must really hate Nath, Lydia thought. As much as Nath hates him. She imagined them in class together all these years: Nath sitting close to the front, notebook out, one hand rubbing the little furrow between his eyebrows, the way he did when he was thinking hard. Utterly focused, oblivious to everything else, the answer right there, sealed inside his mouth. And Jack?

Jack would be sprawled in the back corner, shirt untucked, one leg stretched into the aisle. So comfortable. So certain of himself. Not worried about what anyone thought. No wonder they couldn't stand each other.

Related Characters: , ,

Page Number and Citation: 191

Explanation and Analysis:

It happened so quickly that if she were a different person, Hannah might have wondered if she'd imagined it. No one else saw. Nath was still turned away; Lydia had her eyes shut now against the sun. But the moment flashed lightning-bright to Hannah. Years of yearning had made her sensitive, the way a starving dog twitches its nostrils at the faintest scent of food. She could not mistake it. She recognized it at once: love, one-way deep adoration that bounced off and did not bounce back; careful, quiet love that didn't care and went on anyway. It was too familiar to be surprising. Something deep inside her stretched out and curled around Jack like a shawl, but he didn't notice.

Related Characters: , , ,

Page Number and Citation: 211

Explanation and Analysis:

Jack Wolff Character Timeline in Everything I Never Told You

The timeline below shows where the character Jack Wolff appears in Everything I Never Told You. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...help with their homework. The only person Lydia has actually been spending time with is Jack Wolff, a boy who lives with his mother, Janet, on the same street as the... (full context)

Expectations, Ambition, and Disappointment Theme Icon

Nath looks out his bedroom window at Jack’s house and plans to sneak out to find him. He thinks back on the night... (full context)

...knows that Lydia’s body is in there, but wonders where Lydia herself is. Nath notices Jack Wolff out of the corner of his eye and imagines violently interrogating him. When he... (full context)

...he will likely never see his classmates again. As the funeral goers disperse, Nath confronts Jack about why he is there. Jack asks how Nath is doing and says he is... (full context)

...“at least always does what she’s told.” Nath sulks, thinking that James doesn’t know what Jack is really like. At school, Jack has a reputation for “deflowering virgins” unceremoniously in his... (full context)

...goes home, he notices with satisfaction that there is a police car outside Janet and Jack’s house. He decides to listen in to the conversation from the outside, thinking that as... (full context)

...“Goodnight” and rushes out to his car. Back at home, Nath continues to stare at Jack’s house through the window, and Hannah replays the events of the day in her mind.... (full context)

...Nath expresses reluctance to do so, James becomes angry. The only kid Nath recognizes is Jack, who is a strong and confident swimmer. James has heard Mrs. Allen gossiping about how... (full context)

...shouts, “Chink can’t find China!” James panics, wondering what he should do. At that moment, Jack shouts out “Polo!” and Nath swims toward him—yet when Nath sees that the other kids... (full context)

...had been a “normal” teenage girl the police would have already understood what Nath knows—that Jack is to blame. Nath understands the narrative now emerging about Lydia: that she was lonely,... (full context)

...happened to her. Meanwhile, by the lake, Nath wonders what happened to Lydia’s body. Suddenly Jack appears on his way back from the high school graduation ceremony. Nath walks over to... (full context)

Hannah tries to stop her brother from approaching Jack, and, though Nath resists, she eventually drags him to his knees. Jack glances over and... (full context)

...A month passes, and there is still no sign of Marilyn. One day, Nath spots Jack on the street. They haven’t spoken since the incident at the pool, but Nath feels... (full context)

The doorbell rings—it’s Jack. He hands Nath an envelope, which was accidentally delivered to the Wolffs. Jack points to... (full context)

...looks up at him but remains deadpan as he takes the picture. Back at school, Jack shows up in Lydia’s junior physics class; he explains that he failed the course the... (full context)

...and promises to buy Nath a plane ticket. Lydia is furious, and suddenly announces that Jack is in her physics class. She resolves to befriend Jack in order to spite Nath.... (full context)

...she has never been in a car with a boy her age before. She asks Jack for a cigarette and he laughs, telling her he knows she doesn’t smoke. When Lydia... (full context)

Jack asks Lydia about her blue eyes, and if she knows that she’s the only non-white... (full context)

...ruled Lydia’s death a suicide. Nath calls Officer Fiske and urges him to keep investigating Jack, but Nath gets the impression that Fiske thinks he is “being hysterical.” That night, Hannah... (full context)

Hannah is so familiar with unrequited love that she immediately recognized Jack’s desire for Nath. Unsure of how else to acknowledge this, she touched Jack’s toe with... (full context)

...Lydia is pleased to see that people are beginning to grow suspicious about her and Jack’s relationship. However, these suspicions are unfounded; when she and Jack hang out, all they do... (full context)

Jack asks if Lydia will tell Nath he’s “not such a bad guy,” and Lydia smiles... (full context)

...come straight home after school because Nath will be back. That afternoon, Lydia suggests to Jack that they drive up to the Point, a spot overlooking Middlewood where teenagers often drive... (full context)

Jack pulls away from Lydia and looks at her with kindness, but without lust. Hurt, Lydia... (full context)

...about Cambridge. Lydia, meanwhile, barely notices the conversation taking place around her. She fixates on Jack, wondering where everything went wrong. At 2am, she is suddenly seized by the impulse to... (full context)

...be someone she’s not. She will tell Marilyn “it’s not too late,” will apologize to Jack, and tell Nath that he doesn’t need to worry about leaving her. Lydia decides she... (full context)

The next morning, Nath sees Jack across the road, walking his dog. Although Nath hasn’t eaten in 24 hours and is... (full context)

...he can only guess what was inside Lydia’s mind and never know for sure. Both Jack and Hannah are peering into the water, and he can see Jack’s hands stretched out... (full context)

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Jack Wolff Character Analysis

Jack Wolff Quotes in Everything I Never Told You

Jack Wolff Character Timeline in Everything I Never Told You

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