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Mary
A main character and love interest who appears in most sections of the story. Mary is a young woman, at least when each variation’s plot begins, who appears in story variations A, B, C, and F. In each, she is in a relationship with a man, usually, but not always John. Only in A does Mary’s life have a traditional “happy ending,” after a long and successful marriage to John. In others, John mistreats or neglects her. But all of her stories end the same way: she dies.
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John
A main character who appears in most of the stories and is the love interest of Mary and sometimes of Madge. In story variations A, B, and F, John begins the plot as a young man. Only in A do John and Mary follow a typical trajectory: they fall in love, marry, and grow old together. In C, John is married to Marge and is a middle-aged man experiencing a midlife crisis. John’s outcome in terms of relationships with “happy endings” varies, but all of his stories end the same way: he dies.
Read an in-depth analysis of John.
Madge
A minor character who is married to John in story variation C, and later to Fred. Her marriage to John is externally successful, yet John cheats on Madge with Mary and then kills himself, Mary, and James in an insecure and jealous reaction to their sexual relationship. Madge’s second marriage, to Fred, is happy but ends when Fred dies of illness. Madge involves herself in charity work until she, too, dies.
James
A minor character who appears only in story variation C, as a love interest of Mary. James is a young man in no hurry to settle down. Mary is attracted to his motorcycle, which he often uses to ride away and be “free” and on his own, and his collection of albums. While high on marijuana, he and Mary have sex but are interrupted by John, who later kills the lovers and himself.
Fred
A minor character who marries Madge. Madge and Fred, an “understanding man,” meet after John’s death at the end of story variation C. In D, they have a happy life for a while, similar to the life Mary and John have in story variation A. But they miss the “happy ending” of A when, in story variation E, Fred dies of a heart condition after a long illness.
