# The End of the Tether — Character guide

> Key figures in The End of the Tether by Joseph Conrad.

- [Captain Whalley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_end_of_the_tether_se/characters/captain_whalley.md): Once known as Daredevil Harry Whalley in the Eastern Seas, he now holds his coasting command only because he bought it, and he cannot stop pacing the bridge at night. His daughter Ivy and her failing husband in Melbourne
- [Mr. Massy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_end_of_the_tether_se/characters/massy.md): Massy owns a share of the ship but feels cheated by life, and his second's drunken midnight babble reveals both his vanity and his envy of any man who has done better. He listens, gratified, while the old soaker calls hi
- [Mr. Van Wyk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_end_of_the_tether_se/characters/mr_van_wyk.md): Van Wyk lives apart from the coast's commercial scramble, and his affection for Whalley is the closest thing to intimacy in his life. When Sterne corners him with hints that the captain's game is up, Van Wyk feels a loat
- [Mr. Sterne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_end_of_the_tether_se/characters/mr_sterne.md): Sterne steals out in pyjamas at night to stand barefoot below the bridge, listening to Whalley's nervous orders to the Serang and hoarding each one as evidence. He feels awestruck indignation at the captain's reckless pe
- [the Serang](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_end_of_the_tether_se/characters/the_serang.md): By custom the Serang holds the deck for the captain on easy stretches, but Whalley cannot stay below, and so the two men trade low words in the dark: 'You are watching the compass well?' 'Yes, I am watching, Tuan.' His s
- [Captain Eliott](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_end_of_the_tether_se/characters/captain_eliott.md): A jovial, respected harbor master and old friend of Whalley.
- [Jack](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_end_of_the_tether_se/characters/jack.md): A loyal, unnamed servant or crewman on the Sofala.
- [Tuan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_end_of_the_tether_se/characters/tuan.md): A respectful title used for European gentlemen, often referring to Van Wyk.
- [Ivy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_end_of_the_tether_se/characters/ivy.md): Ivy resembles her mother in eyes and character, and when her father told her all he had was for her and the chicks, she answered with an almost imperceptible movement of her head. Her husband's punctuality in failure and
- [Evans](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_end_of_the_tether_se/characters/evans.md): A former shipmate of Whalley, now deceased.
- [Sir Frederick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_end_of_the_tether_se/characters/sir_frederick.md): A colonial official or wealthy patron mentioned in passing.

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