Who is John Dowell from The Good Soldier and what is their importance?

John Dowell is the narrator of The Good Soldier, as well as a main character in the story. He is a wealthy man of leisure from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is from an old family that still holds the original deeds of ownership for the land they bought from an Indian chief centuries before. He is a Quaker passing as an Episcopalian. John has no profession because he cannot determine a reason why he should work. He is about forty-five years old when he is writing down his story; he is about thirty-three years old when the events he tells about begin. John never gives a physical description of himself. He is married to Florence Dowell, and serves as her caretaker. They have a celibate marriage and no children. He lives in Europe with his wife until her death, and then returns to America.