The Heart is a Lonely Hunter Character Analysis

John Singer

John Singer is the novel’s protagonist and central, centripetal force—all of the other characters, desperate for connection and a relief from their isolation, swirl around him. John Singer is deaf and mute, and as such… read analysis of John Singer

Mick Kelly

Mick Kelly is the youngest protagonist of the novel at just 13 years old. The middle child in a large family, Mick is often lonely and bored. Obsessed with music and the symphonies of Beethoven… read analysis of Mick Kelly

Doctor Benedict Mady Copeland

Doctor Copeland is a black doctor who resides in the unnamed mill town in which the novel is set. An upstanding and well-known member of his community who has delivered countless babies—many of whom have… read analysis of Doctor Benedict Mady Copeland

Bartholomew “Biff” Brannon

Biff Brannon is the kind, thoughtful, deeply existential owner of the New York Café—an all-day, all-night restaurant and bar on the main street of the unnamed mill town in which the novel takes place. Biff… read analysis of Bartholomew “Biff” Brannon

Jake Blount

Jake Blount is an itinerant wanderer who, at the start of the novel, has just arrived in the unnamed mill town in which the book is set. A drunkard, a socialist, and a man deeply… read analysis of Jake Blount

Spiros Antonapoulos

John Singer’s longtime friend and companion Spiros Antonapoulos is an obese Greek man who, like Singer, is both deaf and mute. At the start of the novel, Antonapoulos and Singer have been living together… read analysis of Spiros Antonapoulos

Portia

Doctor Copeland’s only daughter. Portia works as a servant in the Kellys’ boarding house, cooking meals for the Kelly family and their boarders and keeping the house in order. Though her father believes she… read analysis of Portia

William “Willie” Copeland

One of Doctor Copeland’s sons. Willie lives with Portia and Highboy, and the three of them have a strange but sweet relationship in which they undertake equal responsibility for their shared home’s expenses… read analysis of William “Willie” Copeland

Highboy

Portia’s husband. A quiet but kind man who lives happily with both Portia and Willie. Willie and Highboy get into trouble one night at a dance hall, and though Willie is charged and… read analysis of Highboy

Grandpapa

Portia, Willie, Buddy, and Hamilton’s grandfather on their mother’s side. Grandpapa is a kind, forgiving, and deeply religious man who lives on a farm outside town. He eventually invites Doctor Copeland… read analysis of Grandpapa

Alice Brannon

Biff Brannon’s wife. Alice is a bit of a nag, constantly trying to reel in her husband’s affinity for “freaks” and lost causes. Alice works the day shift at the New York Café, but… read analysis of Alice Brannon

Mrs. Lucile Wilson

Biff Brannon’s sister-in-law and Baby’s mother. Lucile, fresh out of a marriage to a cruel, abusive man, dreams of getting her beautiful and talented daughter, Baby, into Hollywood pictures and making a fortune… read analysis of Mrs. Lucile Wilson

Baby Wilson

Lucile’s daughter Baby is just four years old, but Lucile’s dreams of securing Hollywood stardom for her daughter have already influenced the prissy, haughty way that Baby acts. Always primped and dressed in fancy… read analysis of Baby Wilson

Harry Minowitz

Mick’s next-door neighbor and schoolmate. A Jewish boy two years Mick’s senior, the 15-year-old Harry is smart, sensitive, opinionated, and determined to find a way to fight fascism and Nazism. Harry admits to being perturbed… read analysis of Harry Minowitz

Charlie Parker

Spiros Antonapoulos’s cousin. A Greek man who has adopted an American name, Charlie Parker runs a fruit and candy store on Main Street. He employs Antonapoulos for a while, but when the man’s behavior… read analysis of Charlie Parker

George “Bubber” Kelly

Mick’s younger brother and favorite sibling. Together, the two of them are often tasked with caring for their baby brother, Ralph. Bubber is sweet and silly, and Mick often finds herself overwhelmed by… read analysis of George “Bubber” Kelly

Mr. Kelly

Mick’s father. A kind but sad man who once worked as a carpenter and housepainter but now, due to an injury, works as a watchmaker and jewelry repair man. Mr. Kelly is often lonely… read analysis of Mr. Kelly

Daisy

Doctor Copeland’s deceased wife and the mother of Portia, Willie, Buddy, and Hamilton. Doctor Copeland often made Daisy the subject of his directionless rage against the injustices facing the black… read analysis of Daisy

Minor Characters

Karl Marx “Buddy” Copeland

One of Doctor Copeland’s sons. Embarrassed by his given name and estranged from his father, Karl Marx lives on his Grandpapa’s farm and goes by “Buddy”—yet when his father needs him, Buddy is there for him.

Hamilton Copeland

One of Doctor Copeland’s sons.

Ralph Kelly

The baby of the Kelly family. Mick is often in charge of watching over and caring for Ralph, and frequently drags him around town in a little wagon.

Hazel Kelly

Mick’s eldest sister. Hazel is naturally beautiful but dull and impassionate. She helps Mick secure a job at Woolworth’s department store toward the end of the novel.

Etta Kelly

One of Mick’s older sisters. A vain, self-absorbed, unkind young woman who dreams of being in Hollywood movies despite being plain-looking. Toward the end of the novel, she falls ill due to a problem with one of her ovaries.

Bill Kelly

Mick’s eldest brother. A shy, self-conscious teenage boy.

Mrs. Kelly

Mick’s mother. An often-frazzled woman who sometimes puts her boarders’ comfort before that of her own children.

Marshall Nicolls

A pharmacist who is one of Doctor Copeland’s good friends. Nicolls believes that the key to “amicable” relations between the black and white community in town hinges on black people laying low and keeping the peace.

John Roberts

A warm, gregarious postman who is one of Doctor Copeland’s good friends.

Buster Johnson

A young man who is incarcerated alongside Willie at the state penitentiary. Like Willie, Buster is tortured by a cruel group of guards—and, like Willie, is “crippled for life” when one of his feet is amputated as a result of that torture.

Lancy Davis

A passionate, idealistic young man who wins Doctor Copeland’s annual Christmastime essay contest for his revolutionary essay about building a nation entirely of black people within the American South. Lancy is later killed in a race riot at the Sunny Dixie.

Simms

A fanatical itinerant preacher who delivers sermons on street corners throughout town and chalks Bible verses on the walls of houses and businesses. Simms is constantly trying to convert Jake Blount, but Jake takes any opportunity he can to mess with and embarrass Simms.

Patterson

The manager of the Sunny Dixie Show.

Mrs. Minowitz

Harry Minowitz’s mother.

Spareribs

One of Bubber’s neighborhood friends. Spareribs is a wild and unruly child who inherits a gun from his recently-deceased father—a gun which Bubber accidentally fires at Baby Wilson.

Delores Brown

A girl at Mick’s school who gives Mick piano lessons in exchange for lunch money.

Carl

A young deaf and mute man whom John Singer once tried to befriend—only to have Antonapoulos scare Carl away with his unfounded rage.