# Maria — Red Dusk and the Morrow character guide

> Maria in Red Dusk and the Morrow by Paul Dukes.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Poor Maria

**First appearance:** 0004-i-one-of-the-crowd

## Snapshot

A woman living quietly at a farm outside the city, whose name the narrator invokes as both a farewell and a warning.

## Who they are

Maria exists at the edge of the narrator's dangerous errands — spoken of, worried over, never quite within reach. When he tells Grisha to pass along that he has left the city for good, he adds, 'Does Maria know?' and learns she has not been seen for two weeks. Her absence becomes one more thread of loss in a story where the people you love are always one step ahead of the knock at the door.

## Relationships

### [Mrs. Marsh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/characters/mrs_marsh)

_social_

An acquaintance or neighborly connection, with limited emotional depth.

### [Melnikoff](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/characters/melnikoff)

_friendship_

A supportive friendship, possibly with undertones of loyalty or shared history.

### [Melnikoff](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/characters/melnikoff)

_friendship_

A supportive friendship, possibly with undertones of loyalty or shared history.

### [Mrs. Marsh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/characters/mrs_marsh)

_social_

An acquaintance or neighborly connection, with limited emotional depth.

### [Mrs. Marsh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/characters/mrs_marsh)

_social_

An acquaintance or neighborly connection, with limited emotional depth.

## In the story

### [Five Days](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/chapters/ii-five-days)

Marsh's contact; opens the flat for meetings and is visibly distressed by Marsh's condition.

### [The Green Shawl](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/chapters/iii-the-green-shawl)

Provides the narrator with presents (cigarettes, sugar, butter) for the little policeman; is in a constant state of anxiety over Mrs. Marsh's situation.

### [IV: Meshes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/chapters/iv-meshes)

The narrator visits Maria and Stepanovna, recounting his return from Finland and Mrs. Marsh's escape.

### [VI: Stepanovna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/chapters/vi-stepanovna)

Former regular companion who returned to Marsh's country farm to salvage belongings, visiting town only rarely.

### [Finland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/chapters/vii-finland)

Narrator carried shoes bought in Helsingfors for Maria.

### [VIII: A Village “Bourgeois-Capitalist”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/chapters/viii-a-village-bourgeois-capitalist)

Mentioned as the intended recipient of the shoes the narrator carries; she is a poor woman the narrator hopes to help.

### [IX: Metamorphosis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/chapters/ix-metamorphosis)

Replaced by Grisha; narrator brought her shoes.

### [X: The Sphinx](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/chapters/x-the-sphinx)

Mentioned as a type of trusted ally encountered during the six-month period.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/characters/maria
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_dusk_and_the_morrow_se/characters