# Lop-Ear — Before Adam character guide

> Lop-Ear in Before Adam by Jack London.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Lop - Ear, miss Lop - Ear, Lop, XV Lop - Ear

**First appearance:** 0002-i

## Snapshot

Big-Tooth's half-grown companion, Lop-Ear is quick, fearful, and loyal — the friend who chews an arrow from a wound rather than flee.

## Who they are

Lop-Ear is Big-Tooth's closest comrade among the Folk, a young male who shares his wanderings, his winters, and his narrow escapes. When Big-Tooth is struck by an arrow, Lop-Ear masters his terror and stays, gnawing the shaft free and packing leaves into the wound — a moment the narrator reads as the first foreshadowing of altruism. His drifting toward Big-Tooth's sister and other young people quietly tests the friendship, making him both anchor and quiet rival in the early arc.

## Relationships

### [Red-Eye](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/characters/red_eye)

_rivalry_

Lop-Ear is often victimized and bullied by the dominant and cruel Red-Eye.

### [The Swift One](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/characters/the_swift_one)

_friendship_

Lop-Ear and The Swift One are close companions, often supporting each other in dangerous situations.

### [The Folk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/characters/the_folk)

_friendship_

Lop-Ear is part of The Folk and maintains a cooperative, if sometimes subordinate, relationship with the group.

### [The Fire People](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/characters/the_fire_people)

_rivalry_

Lop-Ear is threatened by The Fire People, who represent a hostile and more powerful group.

### [The Chatterer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/characters/the_chatterer)

_friendship_

Lop-Ear and The Chatterer are close friends, often interacting in a playful or supportive manner.

## In the story

### [Before Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/before-adam)

Introduced as a companion in the narrator's racial memories.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/i)

Mentioned as a friend from the narrator's dream world, with whom he played pranks.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/iii)

Referenced as a friend in the narrator's reconstructed Younger World story.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/iv)

Mentioned as the narrator's future boyhood chum, though not yet met in this chapter.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/v)

Becomes the narrator's first friend after a fight and game of hide-and-seek; shows him the village and its customs.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/vi)

The narrator's companion, who is timid about venturing northeast and scolds the narrator for taking risks.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/vii)

Shows altruism by staying with the narrator after he is wounded, gnawing off the arrowhead and dressing the wound with leaves.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/viii)

Companion of the narrator; participates in baiting Saber-Tooth and capturing wild dog puppies.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/ix)

Grows up with the narrator, helps enlarge the cave, and flees with him after the confrontation with Red-Eye.

### [The Swift One](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/x)

The narrator's constant companion; they forage, play, and explore together, and Lop-Ear makes the key discovery of paddling a log.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/xi)

Big-Tooth's companion; he is struck by a pebble thrown by Red-Eye and later drifts with Big-Tooth to the north bank.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/xii)

Travels with the narrator, conceives the idea of crossing the river on logs, and shares in the adventures and hardships.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/xiii)

Accompanies the narrator across the river, observes the Fire People, and helps imitate them, starting a forest fire.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/xiv)

Returns from the adventure-journey with the narrator; shares the narrator's cave and is warned by others of Red-Eye's approach.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/xv)

Marries the narrator's sister, becomes henpecked, then widowed when she is killed by Fire People. The narrator removes an arrow from his leg.

### [Chapter XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/xvi)

Evicted from the cave by the narrator when the narrator and Swift One return to live with the horde.

### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/xviii)

Lost when an abalone shell closed on his fingers at low tide and the flood tide drowned him.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/characters/lop_ear
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/characters