Naked Lunch

by William S. Burroughs

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Naked Lunch Characters

The Narrator/William Lee/Lee/Willy The Agent

The Narrator/William Lee/Lee/Willy The Agent

Naked Lunch is told from the perspective of a male narrator who goes by the aliases William Lee, Lee, and Willy The Agent. He is addicted to drugs and when the novel begins and is… read analysis of The Narrator/William Lee/Lee/Willy The Agent

Dr. Benway

The narrator visits Dr. Benway while he is head of the Reconditioning Center of the Freeland Republic, where Dr. Benway rehabilitates so-called deviants using various methods of psychological torture and pharmaceutical interventions. The narrator wants… read analysis of Dr. Benway

The Sailor

The Sailor lives in Interzone and is a seedy character often characterized by his empty, soulless gaze. He works for “Fats” Terminal to deliver “eggs” of Black Meat (the addictive flesh of the giant aquatic… read analysis of The Sailor

The Young Man

The young man is a minor character who struggles with drug addiction. He is dealing with “coke bugs” (tactile hallucinations linked to cocaine usage) and is constantly scratching his skin. The young man walks into… read analysis of The Young Man

Hauser and O’Brien

Hauser and O’Brien are two narcotics officers in New York City. They are assigned to arrest Lee in his apartment and confiscate all the written materials they find. Hauser and O’Brien have been on the… read analysis of Hauser and O’Brien

The Professor

One day, the narrator observes the Professor giving a lecture to a diverse group of students in an outdoor lecture space at Interzone University. He opens the lecture by talking about his sexual experiences from… read analysis of The Professor

A.J.

A.J., whose nickname is Merchant of Sex, is responsible for financing Islam Inc. Like the narrator, A.J. is an agent, and his cover is that he is an “international playboy and practical jokester.” He… read analysis of A.J.

Hassan

The narrator knows Hassan (whose full name is Salvador Hassan O’Leary) through is involvement with Islam Inc. Hassan, who speaks in a Texas accent and wears ten-gallon hats, has several aliases. Among these aliases are… read analysis of Hassan

Clem and Jody

Clem and Jody are two agents who are also involved in Islam Inc. Also known as “the Ergot brothers,” they are former vaudeville performers who claim to be Russian agents whose sole objective is to… read analysis of Clem and Jody

The Party Leader

The narrator describes several political parties in Interzone. Liquefactionists wish for the absorption of the entire population into a single protoplasmic blob; Divisionists hope for the infinite replication of themselves until only one individual remains… read analysis of The Party Leader

Doctor Schafer

Doctor Schafer is nicknamed “the Lobotomy Kid”. His claim to fame is having ostensibly cured a man named Clarence Cowie of anxiety. Doctor Schafer presents Clarence on stage at the meeting of the International Conference… read analysis of Doctor Schafer

Clarence Cowie

Clarence Cowie, also known as “the Deanxietized Man,” is a man whom Doctor Schafer has ostensibly cured of all anxiety. Doctor Schafer presents him on stage at the International Conference of Medical Psychiatry, but in… read analysis of Clarence Cowie

Dr. Berger

Dr. Berger is the central figure of a vignette entitled “Dr. Berger’s Mental Health Hour,” in which various “cured” characters—including a psychopath, homosexual, and writer—are put to the test by being asked to recite a… read analysis of Dr. Berger

Carl Peterson

Carl Peterson is a resident of the Freeland Republic. One day, he is summoned by Dr. Benway for an appointment at the Ministry of Mental Hygiene and Prophylaxis. Though he did not ask for the… read analysis of Carl Peterson

Burroughs

Burroughs is the narrator of the “Atrophied Preface” and represents a semi-fictionalized stand-in for the novel’s author, William S. Burroughs. Throughout this preface, Burroughs directly addresses the reader, vaguely explaining why he wrote Naked Lunch … read analysis of Burroughs

“Fats” Terminal

“Fats” Terminal is a resident of Interzone. Addicted to drugs himself, Fats is also part of the underground market for “Black Meat,” which refers to the flesh of the giant aquatic black centipede… read analysis of “Fats” Terminal

The Rube

The Rube first appears in the novel as one of the characters the narrator talks about during his conversation with a strait-laced stranger on a New York subway. Like the narrator, the Rube is also… read analysis of The Rube

Carl

Carl is the friend of Joselito, who is addicted to drugs and comes down with a cough that can likely be attributed to tuberculosis. Carl accompanies Joselito to multiple sanitariums to treat his illness… read analysis of Carl

Joselito

Joselito is a man who is addicted to drugs and comes down with a cough that can likely be attributed to tuberculosis. His friend Carl accompanies him to multiple sanitariums to treat his illness. At… read analysis of Joselito

The County Clerk

The County Clerk works in the Old Court House just outside of Interzone. He tells several racist and obscene stories about the goings on in Cunt Lick, Texas, where he is from, including about a… read analysis of The County Clerk

Brad

Brad is the protagonist of one of the more elaborate stories told by the County Clerk. A gay man from Cunt Lick, Texas, Brad moves to New York and starts a jewelry business. To… read analysis of Brad

Jim

In the County Clerk’s story about Brad (a gay jeweler from Cunt Lick, Texas), Jim is the “hustler” that Brad meets in prison. Brad and Jim fall in love and move in together upon… read analysis of Jim

Lady Bradshinkel

In one of the County Clerk’s stories, Lady Bradshinkel is a rich, old lady who discovers that Brad has been replacing the real gems in his clients’ jewelry with fakes. She gets Brad arrested… read analysis of Lady Bradshinkel

Johnny, Mary, and Mark

These are the three actors in the pornographic film that A.J. shows at one of his parties. They perform graphic (and at times violent) sex acts on one another, including hanging one another and setting… read analysis of Johnny, Mary, and Mark

Miguel

Miguel is an old friend of Lee, the narrator. He visits Lee in his apartment after spending two months in Corsica getting clean. Lee remarks on how good Miguel’s body looks before offering him… read analysis of Miguel

NG Joe

NG Joe is one of the narrator’s colleagues. The narrator visits him at his apartment, where he finds NG Joe curled up in the fetal position and injecting drugs into his own spine. NG… read analysis of NG Joe

Nick

Nick is a drug pusher in New York City. After Lee murders two narcotics officers (Hauser and O’Brien) who are trying to arrest him, he immediately contacts Nick to score his next fix… read analysis of Nick

Minor Characters

The Vigilante

The Vigilante first appears in the novel as one of the characters the narrator talks about during his conversations with a strait-laced stranger on a New York subway. He earns his nickname after killing three homosexual men whom he and the narrator are trying to con.

The Narrator/William Lee/Lee/Willy The Agent

The Narrator/William Lee/Lee/Willy The Agent