The Body Character Analysis

Gordie Lechance

Gordie Lechance is a 12-year-old boy growing up in Castle Rock, Maine, with his friends Chris, Vern, and Teddy. He was born when his Mom and Dad were already middle-aged and his… read analysis of Gordie Lechance

Chris Chambers

Chris Chambers is Gordie Lechance’s best friend. He also runs in the same gang as Teddy and Vern. Chris comes from a deeply dysfunctional family: his alcoholic father regularly beats him severely; his… read analysis of Chris Chambers

Teddy Duchamp

Teddy Duchamp is friends with Gordie Lechance, Chris Chambers, and Vern Tessio. Teddy reveres his father, Norman, who is a WWII veteran. He’s not very bright. His attempts to prove his… read analysis of Teddy Duchamp

Vern Tessio

Vern Tessio is friends with Gordie Lechance, Chris Chambers, and Teddy Duchamp. His older brother is Billy. He’s not very bright, but he has other positive qualities, like hope and enthusiasm… read analysis of Vern Tessio

Ray Brower

Ray Brower was a boy about the same age as Gordie, Teddy, Chris, and Vern, who lived in a town about 40 miles away from Castle Rock. A few days before… read analysis of Ray Brower

Billy Tessio

Billy Tessio is Vern’s older brother. He hangs out with a gang of older boys that includes Charlie Hogan, Ace Merrill, Eyeball Chambers, and Fuzzy Bracowicz. Billy is afraid to… read analysis of Billy Tessio

Charlie Hogan

Charlie Hogan is a member of the gang of older boys that includes Billy Tessio, Ace Merrill, Eyeball Chambers, and Fuzzy Bracowicz. He and Billy were the first to discover Ray… read analysis of Charlie Hogan

Eyeball Chambers

Richard Chambers—called “Eyeball” because his right eye jitters uncontrollably—is the older brother of Chris Chambers. He belongs to Ace Merrill’s gang, along with Billy Tessio, Charlie Hogan, and Fuzzy Bracowicz… read analysis of Eyeball Chambers

Ace Merrill

Ace Merrill is the ringleader of the older boys’ gang, which includes Billy Tessio, Charlie Hogan, Eyeball Chambers, and Fuzzy Bracowicz. He’s an especially violent hoodlum who beats up Gordie with… read analysis of Ace Merrill

Dennis Lechance

Dennis was Gordie’s older brother. He was born as a miracle child after Mom experienced a series of miscarriages. He was 10 years older than Gordie, and Mom and Dad always paid him much… read analysis of Dennis Lechance

Dad

Gordie’s dad is in his early 60s at the time of the events in the book. Like Mom, he always showed a marked preference for Dennis over Gordie and he becomes even more… read analysis of Dad

Mom

Gordie’s mom experienced such significant fertility troubles prior to Dennis’s birth that the doctors told her not to expect to ever have children. As delighted as she was by the surprise of Dennis… read analysis of Mom

Norman Duchamp

Norman Duchamp is Teddy Duchamp’s father. A veteran of World War II, according to Teddy he stormed the beaches at Normandy and saw action in France. Possibly because of what he experienced during his… read analysis of Norman Duchamp

Milo Pressman

Milo Pressman is the superintendent of the Castle Rock city dump, which he guards with his dog, Chopper. Milo is a middle-aged man who dislikes kids trespassing in the dump. He seems to be well-connected… read analysis of Milo Pressman

Lard Ass Hogan

Davie “Lard Ass” Hogan is the protagonist of Gordie’s short story “The Revenge of Lard Ass Hogan.” Teased and belittled for his large size, Lard Ass enters his town’s annual pie-eating contest to exact… read analysis of Lard Ass Hogan

Bill Travis (Bill Traynor)

Bill Travis is the defending champion of the Gretna pie-eating contest in Gordie’s short story “The Revenge of Lard Ass Hogan.” A mechanic at the local gas station, Travis has parlayed his pie-eating abilities into… read analysis of Bill Travis (Bill Traynor)

Chico

Chico, whose real name is Edward May, is a character in Gordie’s story “Stud City.” Chico is a disaffected teenager who sleeps with his girlfriend, Jane, in his family home in an attempt… read analysis of Chico

Johnny

Johnny is the older brother of Chico in Gordie’s short story “Stud City.” His and Chico’s stepmother, Virginia, seduces Johnny and he gets a night shift job working in the pit at the… read analysis of Johnny

Minor Characters

George Dusset

George Dusset is the proprietor of the Florida Market, where Gordie goes to buy hamburger for the boys’ campout. While waxing philosophical about the inevitability of death (in reference to Dennis Lechance), Dusset tries twice to overcharge Gordie.

Fuzzy Bracowicz

Fuzzy Bracowicz is a member of Ace Merrill’s gang, along with Billy Tessio, Charlie Hogan, and Eyeball Chambers. He helps Ace beat Gordie following the older and younger boys’ standoff over Ray Brower’s body.

Mrs. Simons

Mrs. Simons is the teacher who accuses Chris Chambers of stealing milk money in grade school. When Chris suffers a crisis of conscience and returns the money to her, she uses it to buy herself a new skirt rather than clearing his name.

Sam

Sam is the father of Chico and Johnny—and the husband of Virginia—in Gordie’s short story “Stud City.” Sam is an ineffective, spineless man who tries and fails to assert his authority over his sons and who doesn’t know that his wife is sleeping with one of her stepsons.

Virginia

Virginia is the second wife of Sam and the stepmother of Chico and Johnny in Gordie’s short story “Stud City.”

Jane

Jane is Chico’s girlfriend in Gordie’s short story “Stud City.”

Sylvia Dodge

Sylvia Dodge is the emcee of the Gretna pie-eating contest in Gordie’s short story “The Revenge of Lard Ass Hogan.”

The Body Characters