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The Narrator
A hospital clerk and the story’s protagonist. The narrator works long hours with not much to do. While working, he takes pills stolen by his coworker, Georgie. Because of his drug use, he may be an unreliable narrator, having trouble remembering details and relating events in order. He has an obscene nickname (Fuckhead) because he tends to mess things up.
Read an in-depth analysis of The Narrator.
Georgie
A hospital orderly. Georgie steals pills from the hospital and works under their influence. He often seems confused, having trouble processing what he sees and remembering what has happened. Georgie, however, acts when others do not. He has a compassionate heart and tries to help others when he can.
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Nurse
The unnamed overnight nurse. She takes pleasure in calling the Family Services doctor to treat cases that she thinks are beyond his skill. She is calm and somewhat dispassionate with patients. She doesn’t care about Georgie’s mental state, so long as he does his job. Her primary focus is on doing her own job so she can support her family.
Terrence Weber
An emergency room patient. Mr. Weber walks into the emergency room with a hunting knife buried in his eye. His wife stabbed him because he was peeping on their sunbathing neighbor. Although his other eye is prosthetic, he can still see. Georgie, instead of the doctors, removes the knife from Weber’s eye. Surprisingly, Weber leaves the hospital the next day feeling remarkably fine.
The Family Services doctor
The on-duty physician. The hospital employees dislike the Family Services doctor. He feels humiliated when called upon to treat patients whose conditions expose his incompetence. Still, he acknowledges his limitations and calls in specialists to treat Mr. Weber. He suspects that Georgie is either high or has mental problems.
Hardee
A hitchhiker. The narrator and Georgie pick up Hardee on their way back into town. The narrator remembers Hardee because the two had been roommates the previous summer. Hardee has been drafted by the military and is currently AWOL, trying to escape to Canada.
An ICU nurse
A patient care staff member from the Intensive Care Unit. The ICU nurse joins the conversation while the specialists discuss Mr. Weber’s condition. The nurse tells Georgie his shoe is untied when he enters carrying the knife from Mr. Weber’s eye.
The jackrabbit and its babies
A woodland creature struck by Georgie’s truck. Georgie accidentally hits the pregnant rabbit and kills it. Georgie saves the babies when their mother dies, but the narrator accidentally sits on them, killing them.
Various medical staff
An ophthalmologist, brain surgeon, anesthesiologist, operator, nurses, and two physicians. A member of the clerical staff contacts various specialists to help treat Mr. Weber, nurses gather to assist, and two curious ICU doctors simply watch and listen in as Weber’s case is discussed.
