Normal People Characters
The main characters in Normal People are Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron.
- Marianne Sheridan begins the novel as a loner but goes on to become popular at Trinity College, where she studies History and Politics. Intelligent and sensitive, she suffers abuse from her partners and wealthy family before ultimately gaining a sense of self-worth through her relationship with Connell.
- Connell Waldron is a popular, working-class student who begins seeing Marianne in secret during high school. He studies English at Trinity, where he feels alienated and suffers from depression. Connell’s relationship with Marianne allows him to overcome his deep-seated insecurities.
Characters
Marianne Sheridan
Marianne Sheridan is one of the two central characters in NormalPeople. As an outcast and loner, she spends much of her formative years imagining a better and more fulfilling existence.
Her home life is characterized by an abusive relationship with her family, which arguably goes on to influence some of the more toxic relationships she forms as a young adult. Marianne had a violent father, and her older brother, Alan, frequently abuses her physically and mentally. At first, Connell’s relationship with Marianne seems to offer a fresh start, as she believes that her life is starting anew. But although Connell never physically abuses Marianne, his insistence on keeping the relationship secret and him likening himself to a “deviant” and “serial killer” for conducting a sexual relationship with her contributes to Marianne further internalizing the idea that her family has already instilled in her: that she is unworthy and unlovable.
Although the course of Marianne’s life changes when she secures a place at Trinity College—where she becomes popular, cultivating a wide circle of friends—she is ultimately being supported by a social hierarchy that she previously deplored. Yet Marianne’s abusive upbringing continues to influence the relationships she chooses throughout university. When she becomes involved with a friend called Jamie, who she practices sadomasochism with, her feelings of inferiority and depression also return. In thinking about their “shared proclivities,” she observes that “her body feels like a carcass, something immensely heavy and awful that she must carry around.” This simile gestures toward Marianne’s sense of detachment from her body and the emptiness she feels inside. In another abusive relationship with a photographer called Lukas, she also refers to her body as comparable to “litter,” implying her low self-worth.
Despite Marianne’s struggles to overcome her demons, a turning point occurs when, while in a sexually exploitive relationship with Lukas, she finally overpowers Lukas by refusing to tolerate his treatment of her. The “tranquilizing” mental effect that Lukas induces in her is akin to a slow, mechanical suicide. But in rejecting his advances, she finally embraces her autonomy and ownership over her body. As Normal People reaches its conclusion, Marianne and Connell now experience a mutually supportive relationship, with Marianne’s influence having drastically impacted Connell’s identity and the trajectory of his life. In encouraging Connell to continue his personal development independently of her by pursuing an MFA in New York, she is able to let Connell go while remaining confident that they will always remain part of each other’s lives.
Connell Waldron
Connell Waldron is the co-protagonist of Normal People. Connell arguably undergoes the most radical personal growth of any character, transforming from an individual desperate for the approval of other people to someone who is fearless in pursuing his ambition and standing up for what he believes in. Connell’s intense anxiety is manifested in his relationship with Marianne. His fear that his peers will discover his relationship with someone who is considered abnormal results in him treating her despicably and refusing to be associated with her at school. Yet much of this anxiety is ultimately proven to be redundant, as it only serves to drive him and Marianne apart and causes Connell to experience self-hatred.
Connell’s complex emotions often lead him to self-reproach. At Marianne’s father’s anniversary Mass, he finds seeing Marianne again so painful that he imagines violently harming himself, as the pain he feels would be replaced by a “much worse and more totalizing pain.” By punishing his mind, Connell is therefore able to detach himself from his physical surroundings. Although Connell’s material circumstances improve considerably after he wins...
(This entire section contains 1308 words.)
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a university scholarship, he again becomes consumed by thoughts of depression and self-harm following the suicide of his school friend Rob Hegarty. Connell is plagued by guilt over them having lost touch and blames himself for matters that were outside of his control. In the midst of his depression, he considers how “Life is the thing you bring with you inside your own head,” eliding the connection between mental and physical health.
Whilst Connell mourns the loss of Rob and his old life in Carricklea, this great tragedy is also the catalyst for Connell permanently rejecting his self-conscious attitude and his desire to be socially accepted. He changes from someone with a yearning to imitate “normal people” in order to fit in to someone willing to live life on his own terms. As the novel reaches its conclusion, Connell is preparing to pursue an MFA and a potential career as a writer, a vocation that he may never have pursued had it not been for his relationship with Marianne.
Peggy
Peggy is one of Marianne’s closest friends during her time at Trinity College and a fellow History and Politics student. Peggy is outgoing and adventurous and encourages Marianne to embrace her social life. Despite their initial closeness, Peggy becomes emotionally manipulative toward Marianne during Marianne’s relationship with Jamie. When Marianne and Jamie break up, Peggy distances herself from Marianne, causing the friendship to end.
Joanna
Joanna is Marianne’s other close friend throughout her years at Trinity. Like Marianne and Peggy, Joanna studies History and Politics. In contrast to Peggy, however, Joanna is a more “serious” person, with a strong sense of ambition and a desire to pursue a career in journalism. Subverting many people’s expectations, Joanna later begins a relationship with a girl called Evelyn, a graduate in International Peace Studies. Contrary to Peggy, Joanna remains a dependable friend to Marianne long after most of her social circle abandon her.
Lorraine Waldron
Lorraine Waldron is Connell’s mother and the Sheridans’ cleaner. Lorraine gave birth to Connell at the age of seventeen and is an extremely loving and supportive mother. The Waldrons have a “notorious” reputation in Carricklea, with rumors having circulated that one of Lorraine’s brothers did time in prison and another was nearly killed in a motorcycle accident. Although Lorraine and Connell are close, Lorraine is deeply critical of her son following his poor treatment of Marianne.
Jamie
Jamie is Marianne’s boyfriend during some of her time at Trinity College. Jamie comes from a privileged background, with a “nationally infamous” father who was partially responsible for causing the financial crash. Despite being popular among Marianne’s circle of friends, Jamie’s arrogance, alongside his emotional abuse of Marianne, ultimately leads to the end of their relationship.
Rob Hegarty
Rob Hegarty is one of Connell’s best friends from school. Rob is portrayed as carefree, but also misogynistic and chauvinistic. At school, he frequently bullies Marianne. In one of the most shocking twists in Normal People, Rob commits suicide toward the end of the novel, contributing to Connell entering a period of extreme depression and suicidal ideation.
Helen Brophy
Helen Brophy is a medical student at Trinity College who becomes Connell’s girlfriend. Connell falls in love with Helen, experiencing a healthy and fulfilling relationship for the first time in his life. Despite being a positive influence on Connell’s life, Helen is frequently critical of Marianne and struggles to understand Connell’s friendship with her. After the suicide of Rob Hegarty, Helen and Connell’s connection dissipates, as Connell descends into paralyzing depression and their relationship breaks down.
Alan Sheridan
Alan Sheridan is Marianne’s abusive and psychologically manipulative brother. Alan physically hurts his sister on numerous occasions but typically projects the blame onto Marianne, ascribing the incidents to her being a “freak.” On one occasion Alan even tells her to commit suicide, and toward the end of Normal People, he breaks Marianne’s nose by forcing open the door to her bedroom. Alan’s abuse is only brought to an end when Connell threatens to kill him and Marianne cuts ties with her family.
