Tim Winton
Tim Winton is the protagonist, author, and narrator of The Boy Behind the Curtain. One of Australia’s most celebrated novelists, Winton appears as a child, a young adult, and a grandparent at different points…
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Tim Winton’s Father
Winton’s father is a policeman who, when Winton is five years old, comes home after a near-fatal motorbike accident looking almost unrecognizable. Because Winton took his father’s strength and reliability for granted, he struggles…
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Tim Winton’s Mother
Winton’s mother is the full-time caregiver to Winton and his three siblings. When Winton’s father comes home from the hospital with barely any physical ability following his traffic accident, the weight of her role…
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Tim Winton’s Wife
Winton’s wife is a nurse and the mother of their three children. She works as an oncology nurse at the hospital until the day she gives birth to their eldest son. Winton considers…
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Tim Winton’s Eldest Son
Winton’s eldest son appears as both a child and an adult in The Boy Behind the Curtain. He’s the only one of Winton’s children present when the family spends half a year on…
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Tim Winton’s Grandfather
Winton’s grandfather is a person about whom Winton hears dozens of colorful stories involving theater and other eccentricities, but by the time Winton is a child, his grandfather drives Betsy, the most embarrassing…
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Tim Winton’s Estranged Friend
Winton’s estranged friend appears in the essay “In the Shadow of the Hospital.” He calls Winton to ask him to visit him at Fremantle Hospital, having seen the roof of Winton’s house from his…
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Motorbike Rider
The motorbike rider appears in the essay “Havoc: A Life in Accidents” when he crashes on the road just ahead of the car young Winton rides in with his father. His crash, and his…
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The Stranger
The stranger appears in the essay “Havoc: A Life in Accidents” as a visitor at the Wintons’ house when Tim Winton’s father is recovering from his motorbike accident. He carries and bathes Winton’s father…
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Elizabeth Jolley
Elizabeth Jolley is one of the most prominent writers in 20th-century Australia and Winton’s writing teacher in college. Though Winton doesn’t immediately warm to Jolley and finds her sense of fashion and obsession with…
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Dr Geoff Gallop
Dr Geoff Gallop is the Premier of Western Australia in the early 2000s, the years on which “The Battle for Ningaloo Reef” focuses. His wholehearted efforts to listen to the public and halt plans for…
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Peter Bartlett
Peter Bartlett is the owner of Leap Castle and one day phones Winton out of the blue to offer the castle’s Gate Lodge to him for a half-year writing residency. His generosity and sociability are…
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Peter Matthiessen
Peter Matthiessen is the author of Blue Meridian, the book that chronicles the making of the documentary Blue Water, White Death which Winton searches for but never finds a copy of. Matthiessen researches for…
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Peter Gimbel
Peter Gimbel is the American filmmaker and diver who directs the documentary Blue Water, White Death, the making of which Peter Matthiessen chronicles in his book Blue Meridian. His ambition and reckless courage…
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Ron Taylor
Ron Taylor is Valerie Taylor’s husband and one of the two Australian divers who accompany Peter Gimbel on his documentary expedition to film a great white shark underwater. Matthiessen describes Ron as being sharklike…
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Valerie Taylor
Valerie Taylor is Ron Taylor’s wife and one of the two Australian divers who accompany Peter Gimbel on his documentary expedition. She and Ron are something of a celebrity couple in Australia, and Valerie…
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Minor Characters
Tim Winton’s Paternal Grandmother
Winton’s paternal grandmother is a woman whose oddities make her stand out. She lives in a tent outside the house rather than inside with Winton’s grandfather, and greets him by waving her leg. Her habits add to the eccentric reputation Winton’s grandfather cultivates.
Tim Winton’s Maternal Grandmother
Winton’s maternal grandmother appears briefly during the essay “Twice on Sundays,” in which Winton describes his family’s Sunday visits to her house. She berates young Winton for his family’s religious zeal, which demonstrates that his parents’ conversion to Christianity was a bold diversion from their own upbringings.
Martin Copley
Martin Copley is the man who established Mt Gibson Sanctuary, the wildlife reserve Winton visits in the essay “Repatriation.” His genuine care for Australian wildlife and his respect for the scientists working at the sanctuary surprise Winton, who is usually skeptical of philanthropists’ true intentions.
Betsy
Betsy is the 1954 Hillman Minx car that Winton’s grandfather drives later in his life. Her outdated style and dull coloring embarrass young Winton who, even when looking back nostalgically, cannot find many positive things to say about her.
