Reno

Reno is the central character/protagonist. The protagonist is never identified by her real name, only the name of her hometown, which was a nickname given to her by one of the other characters: Ronnie Fontaine. This reflects the central theme of the novel as a whole, which is Reno’s voyage of self-discovery. Reno’s lack of a solid identity, sense of self, or sense of purpose is reflected in her lack of a name.

The main traits that marked Reno out from the other characters were the fact that she spent more of her time listening to others than talking about herself and that she was more interested in living her life for the sake of living her life, rather than for the sake of collecting experiences which she could later use as part of her art. (This trait contrasts in particular with the character of...