On Mystic Lake | Characters & Character Analysis

On Mystic Lake Characters

The major characters of On Mystic Lake are types: Annie, the plucky heroine and eternal optimist whose major faults are her passionate love and her willingness to sacrifice her own needs for others; Blake, the overworked, inattentive, often cold and condescending husband who is overly concerned with appearances; Nick, the idealist with a painful past and a capacity to love "more deeply, completely than others" that has allowed life "to pummel him so brutally"; and Izzy, the traumatized child.

As a result of these characterizations, the lines are clearly drawn between villains and heroes. While Blake eventually sees the error of his ways, there is little to redeem him; ultimately he simply cannot recreate himself into a loving husband and father.

He does give the reader some satisfaction though when he at least realizes what he has lost in Annie. Annie, in contrast, has few qualities...
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