# A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers — Character guide

> Key figures in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry David Thoreau.

- [Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/narrator.md): He is one of two brothers rowing away from their native village, a deliberate idler who names islands, reads old chronicles aloud, and measures the present against the past. His desire for freshness — a Sunday morning 'f
- [Chaucer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/chaucer.md): Chaucer arrives not as a person but as a recurring quotation, summoned whenever the boatmen want to dignify a meadow or a mood with old English song. He represents the narrator's habit of reading the American river throu
- [The Indians](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/the_indians.md): They appear as place-names (Musketaquid), as Jesuit reports of a 'beautiful River' to the south, and as the moccasined tread the narrator feels beneath the modern current. Their absence is the book's quiet wound: the tra
- [Rice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/rice.md): A local figure or acquaintance mentioned in the narrative.
- [Goethe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/goethe.md): The German writer and philosopher cited in reflections on nature and art.
- [Ossian](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/ossian.md): Legendary Gaelic bard whose poetry is invoked in the narrative.
- [Homer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/homer.md): Ancient Greek poet whose epics are frequently alluded to.
- [Jonathan Tyng](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/jonathan_tyng.md): A colonial figure associated with the Merrimack River region.
- [Hannah Dustan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/hannah_dustan.md): A colonial woman captured by Indians, whose story is recounted.
- [Anacreon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/anacreon.md): Ancient Greek lyric poet quoted in the text.
- [Thoreau](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/thoreau.md): The author himself, occasionally referred to in the third person.
- [Shakespeare](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/shakespeare.md): The playwright frequently quoted and referenced.
- [Lieut. Farwell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/lieut_farwell.md): A military officer mentioned in historical accounts.
- [Aulus Persius Flaccus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/persius.md): Roman satirist whose works are cited.
- [Pan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/pan.md): Greek god of the wild, invoked in nature descriptions.
- [Gookin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/gookin.md): Colonial historian cited regarding Indian affairs.
- [Mr. Eliot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/mr_eliot.md): Missionary to the Indians mentioned in historical context.
- [Manu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/manu.md): Hindu lawgiver and mythical figure referenced.
- [Captain Lovewell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/captain_lovewell.md): Leader of a colonial military expedition.
- [Belphoebe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/belphoebe.md): Character from Spenser's Faerie Queene, alluded to.
- [John Stark](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/john_stark.md): Revolutionary War hero from New Hampshire.
- [Milton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/milton.md): English poet, author of Paradise Lost, referenced.
- [Wannalancet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/wannalancet.md): Sachem of the Penacook tribe.
- [John Tinker](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/john_tinker.md): A local person mentioned in the narrative.
- [Crodar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/crodar.md): Figure from Ossianic legend.
- [Evelyn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters/evelyn.md): Possibly a reference to John Evelyn, diarist.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_week_on_the_concord_and_merrimack_rivers_se/characters