The Narrator
The unnamed narrator and protagonist of Old School is a boy in his sixth-form (senior) year at an elite, all-boys New England prep school. The narrator is there on scholarship and comes from a middle-class…
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Dean Makepeace
Dean Makepeace is the dean of the narrator’s school. The narrator and his classmates believe that the dean is friends with Ernest Hemingway, having met him while serving in World War I. But…
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Bill White
Bill is the narrator’s roommate and friend during his four years at school. Two years into their friendship, the narrator learns that Bill is Jewish, which makes the narrator very self-conscious—the narrator also has…
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Purcell (“Little Jeff”)
Purcell is one of the narrator’s closest friends and Big Jeff’s cousin. Purcell and Big Jeff are both named Jeff Purcell, so most of the students call him “Little Jeff” because he is…
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The Narrator’s Father
The narrator’s father never appears in the story directly—and because the narrator tries to hide the details of his family life, he doesn’t reveal much about his father. The narrator does make oblique references…
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Big Jeff
Big Jeff is one of the narrator’s classmates and Purcell’s cousin. Both he and Purcell are named Jeff Purcell, and so he’s nicknamed “Big Jeff” because he’s taller. Big Jeff is a vegetarian…
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Ernest Hemingway
Real-life author Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) is the narrator’s favorite writer. Hemingway is known for novels like The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and For Whom the Bell Tolls; the…
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Ayn Rand
Real-life author Ayn Rand (1929–1979) is one of the writers that visits the narrator’s school over the course of his senior year. Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and studied there during the…
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Susan Friedman
Susan is a former student at Miss Cobb’s, an all-girls school near the narrator’s all-boy’s prep school. The narrator finds Susan’s story “Summer Dance” in an old literary review and plagiarizes it for a…
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Mr. Ramsey
Mr. Ramsey is one of the English masters at the narrator’s school and the advisor to the English club. When Dean Makepeace leaves the school, Mr. Ramsey helps oversee the narrator’s expulsion: he drives…
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Robert Frost
Real-life poet Robert Frost (1874–1963) is the first of the visiting writers to come to the narrator’s school. Frost is known for his realistic depictions of rural life, colloquial language, and formal devices like…
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Rain
Rain attends the nearby all-girls school, Miss Cobb’s. The narrator and Rain dance very closely at one of their joint dances, until a monitor makes them stop. Just after this, the narrator sees Rain making…
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The Headmaster
The headmaster of the narrator’s school loves literature and started the tradition of literary competitions at the school, hoping that they would instill a love of writing in the students. The headmaster was inspired…
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Ruth Levine
Ruth is the protagonist of Susan Friedman’s story “Summer Dance.” The narrator relates to her because of her middle-class Jewish background, and because they both hide their true identities and motivations from their classmates…
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Jack Broome
Jack is one of the narrator’s classmates. At a Halloween dance, the narrator dances with a girl named Rain—but after a monitor separates them, Rain kisses Jack, which makes the narrator jealous. Later…
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George Kellogg
George is one of the narrator’s friends and the editor of Troubadour, the school’s literary review. George wins the first literary competition of the year by writing a poem entitled “First Frost.” He…
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Minor Characters
Gershon
Gershon is one of the school’s handymen. The narrator gets in trouble when he unknowingly whistles a Nazi marching song behind Gershon, who is Jewish and lost most of his family in the Holocaust. The narrator later apologizes to Gershon.
The Narrator’s Mother
The narrator’s mother died about a year before the narrator began attending prep school. She was Catholic and raised the narrator Catholic as well—but before she died, revealed to the narrator that his father has Jewish roots.
Grandjohn
Grandjohn is the narrator’s maternal grandfather and Patty’s husband. Grandjohn and Patty host the narrator in Baltimore over winter break, and when he falls ill, they visit and take care of him in his school’s infirmary.
Patty
Patty is Grandjohn’s wife and the narrator’s step-grandmother. Patty and Grandjohn host the narrator in Baltimore over winter break, and when he falls ill, they visit and take care of him in his school’s infirmary.
Hiram Dufresne
Dufresne is the head of the board of trustees at the narrator’s school.
Mr. Rice
Mr. Rice is one of the English masters at the narrator’s school.
Mrs. Ramsey
The wife of Mr. Ramsey. Bill carries on a flirtation with her during senior year that includes a kiss, but no more than that.
