Tyler, or Nurse Tyler

Tyler is the story's narrator. He is assigned as Mala Ramchandin's caregiver at the Paradise Alms House, and is thus able to gain her confidence and learn and relate her story. Tyler is the only man in all of Lantanacamara to be trained as a nurse, and he consistently disrupts prescribed gender norms within the small town of Paradise. While the other nurses initially mock him for his effeminate ways, and his attention to detail and his appearance, the progress he makes with Mala as her caregiver earns their respect, and he begins to assert himself within the space and make real gains with Mala's recovery.

His interest in other men and in breaking down gender norms is a central aspect of his character, and his hyperawareness of his surroundings (caused by the fears and trauma associated with being a constant outsider, oppressed and bullied...