# Diana Scripps — Short Fiction character guide

> Diana Scripps in Short Fiction by Ernest Hemingway.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Diana, Scripps, dear Scripps

**First appearance:** 0034-the-torrents-of-spring

## Snapshot

A waitress in a Northern pump-town who married Scripps O'Neil, she carries a birdcage and the quiet terror of a woman watching her husband slip away.

## Who they are

Diana lives in a rented room above a former saloon, hoping a story by Ruth Suckow or a shared walk to the beanery will hold Scripps's attention. She married him, but the spring wind and the town's easy camaraderie pull him further from her each day, and she knows it. Her silent refrain—I can't hold him—gives The Torrents of Spring its tenderest counterweight to all the men lurching drunk on change.

## Relationships

### [Scripps O'Neil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se/characters/scripps_oneil)

_family_

Diana Scripps and Scripps O'Neil are married, sharing a domestic life with underlying strain and dependency.

### [Scripps O'Neil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se/characters/scripps_oneil)

_family_

Diana Scripps and Scripps O'Neil are married, sharing a domestic life with underlying strain and dependency.

### [Scripps O'Neil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se/characters/scripps_oneil)

_family_

Diana Scripps and Scripps O'Neil are married, sharing a domestic life with underlying strain and dependency.

## In the story

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters/v)

Scripps's mother; recalled in a memory about General Sherman burning their house during the Civil War.

### [The Struggle for Life](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters/the-struggle-for-life)

Scripps's wife; fears she cannot hold him as they walk to the beanery.

### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters/x)

Anxiously awaits Scripps, fears she cannot hold him, and carries the birdcage to the beanery.

### [The Passing of a Great Race and the Making and Marring of Americans](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters/the-passing-of-a-great-race-and-the-making-and-marring-of-americans)

Sits miserably beside Scripps, realizing she cannot hold him and making a final desperate attempt to save their marriage.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters/xiv)

In misery, realizes she cannot hold her husband Scripps.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters/xv)

Makes a final attempt to win Scripps back by offering the Mercury and asking for the bird; leaves heartbroken.

### [Author's Final Note to the Reader](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters/author-s-final-note-to-the-reader)

The elderly waitress whose story about losing her mother in Paris is clarified in this note.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se/characters/diana_scripps
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_15_se/characters