Major Characters
Conrad Jarrett (Con): Eighteen-year-old high school junior. Would be a senior except lost a year because he was in the hospital for eight months following a suicide attempt. Swims on the swim team and sings in the choir. He tries to get over his depression and feelings of guilt over his brother's death.
Beth Jarrett: Con and Buck's mother. 39 years old, but looks younger. She has been torn apart emotionally by the events of the past few years, and wishes that life could just carry on normally.
Calvin Jarrett (Cal): Con and Buck's father, 41. Tax attorney. Was sent to an orphanage as a young boy, and is now trying to figure out how to be a good father without having had a model to follow.
Joe Lazenby: An old friend of Con and Buck's, also on the swim team. The only one who sent Con a card while he was in the hospital.
Kevin Stillman: A good-looking high school senior on the swim team; often referred to by Con as a 'prick.' Gets what he wants when he does nothing to deserve it.
Jeannine Pratt: Con's love interest. She is new in town, a high school senior who moved here from Akron, Ohio.
Jordan Jarrett (Buck): Con's older brother. Would have turned 19 on November 5, but died in an accident two summers ago. Was an excellent swimmer. The perfect older brother.
TC Berger: Con's psychiatrist in Evanston. Though Con was reluctant to go to him at first, the two form a bond which turns out to be invaluable to Con. Possesses insights that make Con see things differently.
Minor Characters
Crawford: Con's understanding doctor in the hospital. Told him it was normal to feel anxious some days.
Van Buren: Another friend of Con's on the swim team.
Miss Mellon: Con's English teacher. Tries to tell him that he can take as much time as he'd like to get back into the swing of things; he gets annoyed by her trying to hold his hand through it all.
Faughnan: The choir teacher. Very demanding of the singers, which is therapeutic to Con because it makes him concentrate.
Salan: Con's swim coach. Can be very insensitive.
Ray Hanley: Cal's business partner and old friend.
Cherry: Ray and Cal's incompetent secretary, nineteen years old. Has a boyfriend who goes to Northwestern.
Arnold Bacon: Was a tax attorney who became a mentor to Cal when he was younger and convinced him into going to law school. Basically disowned Cal when Cal told him he was going to marry Beth while still in school.
Karen: A friend of Con's from the hospital. Also suicidal. Tells Con not to be so intense.
Phil and Sara Murray: Neighbors of Cal and Beth who host a dinner party.
Ed and Marty Genthe, Mac and Ann Kline: Coupled friends of the Murrays and the Jarretts. We meet them at the dinner party hosted by the Murrays.
Suzanne Mosely: A shy, fat girl in Con's trigonometry class. She has a crush on Con, and gets very upset when she fails a quiz.
Mr. Simmons: Con's trig teacher.
Lynn Searles: A former secretary of Cal and Ray with whom Ray had an affair some years back.
Nancy Hanley: Ray's wife, also an old friend of Cal and Beth.
Carole Lazenby: Joe Lazenby's mother. An old friend of the family, she misses seeing Con around her house.
Ellen: Beth's mother. Very critical, asks a lot of questions of Con.
Howard: Beth's father. Gets very excited about giving Con a car for his birthday/Christmas present.
Sandy: Ray and Cal's new secretary; not much of an improvement over Cherry.
Mrs. Pratt: Jeannine's mother. Gives Con the third degree the first time he visits her home.
Mike: Jeannine's younger brother; plays the guitar.
Ward Butler: Beth's brother, and the person she is closest to.
Audrey Butler: Ward's wife.
Molly Davis: The woman that Cal almost had an affair with, but did not.
Paul Ferrier: Mrs. Pratt's boyfriend. Jeannine blames him for breaking up her parents' marriage.
Charlie and Kerry: Ward and Audrey's sons; similar in behavior to the way Buck and Con were when they were younger.
Leo: Was at the hospital with Con. Once told him, 'Stop worrying. You're okay. You can play Scrabble, that means you can concentrate. You're ready.' (p. 3)
Robbie Clay: One of the patients at the hospital. Wrapped himself in alcohol-soaked towels and lit himself on fire; was sent to Three and Con never saw him again.
Sally Willet: A girl who had once read Con's palm in grade school.
View More Summaries on Ordinary People
