# Jerry Perkins — Riceyman Steps character guide

> Jerry Perkins in Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Jerry

**First appearance:** 0003-part-i-iv-elsie

## Snapshot

A Clerkenwell neighbor whose easy helpfulness and ordinary decency throw the Earlforwards' strange, sealed household into quiet relief.

## Who they are

Jerry Perkins belongs to the neighborhood's working life—the yards, the lorries, the hum of hidden machinery that throbs beneath Riceyman Steps. He assists Elsie and the Earlforwards in small, practical ways, and his presence reminds the reader that ordinary sociability still exists outside Henry's counting-house of a shop. In the novel's early-middle arc he functions as a foil: a man who gives and receives help without agonizing over the cost, in a story where every transaction is weighed to the farthing.

## Relationships

### [Elsie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/riceyman_steps_se/characters/elsie)

_social_

Jerry Perkins is a fellow servant and acquaintance of Elsie, sharing casual conversations and neighborhood gossip.

### [Henry Earlforward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/riceyman_steps_se/characters/henry_earlforward)

_social_

Henry barely acknowledges Jerry Perkins, viewing him as an insignificant figure in the neighborhood.

### [Elsie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/riceyman_steps_se/characters/elsie)

_social_

Jerry Perkins is a fellow servant and acquaintance of Elsie, sharing casual conversations and neighborhood gossip.

### [Elsie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/riceyman_steps_se/characters/elsie)

_social_

Jerry Perkins is a fellow servant and acquaintance of Elsie, sharing casual conversations and neighborhood gossip.

### [Henry Earlforward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/riceyman_steps_se/characters/henry_earlforward)

_social_

Henry barely acknowledges Jerry Perkins, viewing him as an insignificant figure in the neighborhood.

### [Henry Earlforward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/riceyman_steps_se/characters/henry_earlforward)

_social_

Henry barely acknowledges Jerry Perkins, viewing him as an insignificant figure in the neighborhood.

## In the story

### [Out of the Rain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/riceyman_steps_se/chapters/part-v-iv-out-of-the-rain)

Mrs. Perkins's boy who delivers Elsie's letter to the hospital and informs her that Joe has been asking about her.

### [IX: The Kiss](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/riceyman_steps_se/chapters/part-v-ix-the-kiss)

Visits Elsie at the shop, dressed in his best clothes; asks for and receives a kiss from Elsie.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/riceyman_steps_se/characters/jerry_perkins
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/riceyman_steps_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/riceyman_steps_se/characters