Naomi Roth

Naomi Roth is the protagonist of The Devil and Webster, and near the entirety of the narration of the novel conveys Naomi’s thoughts and emotions through free indirect discourse. While the action of the plot focuses on the relationship between the Webster Dissent and the Webster administration, the emotional content of The Devil and Webster stems completely from Naomi’s relationships with her daughter, her job, her best friend, and her past.

The Devil and Webster begins with a summary of Naomi’s past: she had been a student activist while an undergraduate at Cornell University, she had then worked with VISTA doing non-profit work in Goddard, New Hampshire, where she became pregnant with her only child, Hannah Rosalind Roth. After Naomi’s marriage fell apart, she obtained her PhD and moved to Massachusetts to become a professor of Women’s Studies at Webster College, where...