Vox Character Analysis

Dr. Jean McClellan

Jean, a 43-year-old cognitive linguist and mother of four, is the novel’s protagonist. Throughout her life, Jean has been happy to go with the flow and focus on her family and her research into Wernicke’s… read analysis of Dr. Jean McClellan

Patrick McClellan

Patrick is Jean’s husband. Jean was initially drawn to Patrick because he was kind, safe, and not at all interested in politics. However, in the novel’s present, these qualities lead Jean to resent Patrick… read analysis of Patrick McClellan

Sonia McClellan

Sonia is Jean and Patrick’s six-year-old daughter. Prior to the Pure Movement’s takeover, Sonia was a verbose and bright five-year-old. But in the present, Sonia has acclimatized to the restrictions placed on her and… read analysis of Sonia McClellan

Steven McClellan

Sixteen-year-old Steven is Jean and Patrick’s oldest child. While Jean and Steven used to have a close and loving relationship, Steven is slowly indoctrinated into the Pure Movement when his school begins offering AP… read analysis of Steven McClellan

Jackie Juarez

Jackie was Jean’s best friend in grad school, and though she doesn’t appear in person for much of the novel, Jean thinks of Jackie often. They stopped talking about 20 years ago, around the… read analysis of Jackie Juarez

Lorenzo Rossi

Lorenzo is an Italian biochemistry expert who worked with Jean and Lin on a cure for Wernicke’s aphasia. He has remained in the United States following the Pure Movement’s government takeover, and he agrees to… read analysis of Lorenzo Rossi

Dr. Lin Kwan

Lin was Jean and Lorenzo’s coworker in the neurolinguistics department at Georgetown prior to the Pure Movement’s takeover. She’s a tiny older woman and is extremely intelligent and accomplished: after working for years as… read analysis of Dr. Lin Kwan

Morgan LeBron

Morgan is Jean, Lin, and Lorenzo’s much-younger and wholly unqualified boss. He took Lin’s position as department chair after women were dismissed from their jobs. In addition to being a generally poor… read analysis of Morgan LeBron

Reverend Carl Corbin

One of the novel’s antagonists, Reverend Carl is the leader of the Pure Movement, a (fictional) fundamentalist Christian movement that, among other things, upholds strict gender roles and advocates for conversion therapy for gay people… read analysis of Reverend Carl Corbin

Evan King

Evan, his wife Olivia, and daughter Julia are the McClellan’s next-door neighbors. They’re about 10 years younger than Jean and Patrick and are extremely devout—they supported the Pure Movement long before the government takeover… read analysis of Evan King

Olivia King

Olivia is Jean’s next-door neighbor. She and her husband, Evan, are extremely religious. Olivia was fully supportive of the Pure Movement, at least before the wrist counters went on and limited women to… read analysis of Olivia King

Julia King

Julia is Evan and Olivia’s teenaged daughter and Steven’s crush. Jean remembers her as a free-spirited girl who was unenthusiastic about her parents’ piety and devotion to the Pure Movement. However, since the… read analysis of Julia King

Delilah Ray

Mrs. Ray was the McClellans’ gardener prior to her stroke several years ago. She was once full of life and enthusiastic about both mundane things like pie recipes, and bigger concerns like progressive government policies… read analysis of Delilah Ray

Del Ray/The Mailman

Del is the McClellans’ mailman and is secretly the messenger for a resistance group that operates out of his and his wife Sharon’s farm. He carries secret messages to and from Patrick through the… read analysis of Del Ray/The Mailman

Sharon Ray

Sharon is Del’s wife; she’s a no-nonsense Black woman. Sharon and Del lead a resistance group from their farm, where they live with their three daughters and an assortment of animals. Sharon is motivated… read analysis of Sharon Ray

Anna Myers

Anna Myers is President Myers’s wife. A gorgeous blonde woman who once modeled lingerie, Anna has sunk deep into a depression since becoming First Lady, and she is constantly monitored in case she makes… read analysis of Anna Myers

President Myers

President Myers is the fictional president of the United States. He came to power by collaborating with Reverend Carl Corbin and the Pure Movement: Reverend Carl promised Myers enough votes to win the election, in… read analysis of President Myers

Bobby Myers

Bobby Myers is President Myers’s brother and closest advisor. He suffers a skiing accident that induces Wernicke’s aphasia, which is the reason Morgan and Reverend Carl give Jean that they need her to return… read analysis of Bobby Myers

Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe is a hulking security guard who seems to work for Morgan and the government. Jean, Lin, and Lorenzo find him terrifying, given his size and the fact that he can move… read analysis of Mr. Poe

Sergeant Petroski

Sergeant Petroski is a young soldier assigned to guard the Georgetown University science labs. Petroski studied philosophy in college and only signed up for the military because of the steady pay and benefits it offers—he… read analysis of Sergeant Petroski

Annie Wilson

Annie Wilson was the McClellans’ neighbor—until she was arrested for adultery. Prior to the Pure Movement’s takeover, she’d been planning to leave her husband. But after losing her job, she suddenly had nowhere to go… read analysis of Annie Wilson

Jimbo

Jimbo was a colleague of Patrick’s and a member of the resistance. The government had him executed in front of his former coworkers, including Patrick, to make an example out of him. Prior to… read analysis of Jimbo

Mamma

Jean’s mother lives in southern Italy with Papà and regularly FaceTimes with Jean and her family in the U.S. Soon after Reverend Carl approaches Jean about working on the serum to cure Wernicke’s aphasia, Mamma… read analysis of Mamma

Minor Characters

Thomas

Thomas is one of Patrick’s coworkers. He’s cold, cruel, and seems to have fully bought into the Pure Movement, given his willingness to carry out violence on the government’s behalf. He murders Jimbo, and he’s the technician responsible for securing and replacing women’s counters.

Dr. Claudia

Dr. Claudia was Jean’s gynecologist prior to the Pure Movement’s government takeover. Jean knows that while Dr. Claudia doesn’t agree with the Pure Movement’s aims at all, she wears one of the movement’s pins because her husband is a genuine believer.

Papà

Jean’s father lives in southern Italy with Mamma and regularly FaceTimes with Jean and her family in the U.S.

Isabel Gerber

Prior to the Pure Movement’s takeover, Isabel was a professor at Georgetown and Lin’s fiancée. Isabel taught Spanish conversation.

Leo McClellan

Leo is Sam’s twin; they’re Jean and Patrick’s middle children. He’s 11.

Sam McClellan

Sam, Leo’s twin, is one of Jean and Patrick’s middle children. He’s 11.

Dr. Mendoza

Dr. Mendoza is the OB-GYN who takes over Dr. Claudia’s practice.

Vox Characters