# Major Amberson — The Magnificent Ambersons character guide > Major Amberson in The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Major Amberson, The Major, Major, the Major, XXX Major Amberson **First appearance:** 0000-i ## Snapshot Patriarch of the Amberson family, builder of its fortune and its mansion, who in old age turns from ledgers to the profoundest thinking of his life. ## Who they are Major Amberson made the family's money and the family's name, and for most of the novel he presides over both with the easy authority of a man who has never had to imagine them ending. After Isabel's death he sits staring into the fire, and those around him mistake his absorption for dazed reminiscence when he is in fact planning how to enter a country where he is not even sure of being recognized as an Amberson. His decline is the story's clearest signal that the fortune and the mansion were never as permanent as the family assumed. ## In the story ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/i) Made a fortune in 1873 and built the Amberson Mansion, becoming the pride of the town. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/ii) Isabel's father and George's grandfather. He gives a colossal wedding present (architect's designs for a house) and later gives George a pony for his ninth birthday. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/iii) Referenced as George's grandfather who owns the building housing the clubroom and the horse-pistol used as a gavel. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/iv) Stands with Isabel and George to receive guests; his expression shows faintly amused condescension, but his face also bears tokens of sufferings withstood. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/vii) Seen briefly in a carriage; George criticizes his grandfather's old carriage and horses as a 'disgrace'. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xi) Hosts Sunday dinners; teases Eugene about a past serenade and broken bass fiddle; jokes that Eugene's mishap led to Isabel marrying Wilbur; drinks three glasses of champagne. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xiii) Distressed by the family quarrel over the estate; appears fidgety and troubled. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xiv) Meets George at the station after Wilbur's death, patting him and calling him 'poor fellow'; appears much feebler than before. ### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xv) Referenced as having spoiled Georgie more than his own children; his 'prospects' support George Amberson after the financial crash. ### [Chapter XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xvi) Decides to build houses on his property, causing conflict with George; appears in conversation with his son. ### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xix) Hosts the dinner, tries to rally Eugene about automobile shops, and scolds George for his rudeness. ### [Chapter XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xx) Mentioned as having hosted a dinner and being persuaded to go motoring with Eugene. ### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xxii) George's grandfather; his house is where George goes after the confrontation. ### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xxiii) The Major is seen briefly, stooped over his desk working on accounts, but George ignores him. ### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xxviii) Mentioned as still working on ledgers by gaslight, refusing to wire the Mansion, and suffering from the decline of Amberson Addition property values. ### [XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xxix) Aged and stooped, he shuffles to see his daughter and later lies on George's bed waiting. ### [Chapter: The Major's Final Reflections and the Aftermath of Loss](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xxx) Remains dry-eyed and withdrawn after Isabel's death, spending evenings staring into the fire and engaged in profound thinking about mortality and the universe. ### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xxxi) His failure to deed the house to Isabel is a key cause of the family's financial collapse. ### [XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xxxiii) His mansion and properties are demolished; the Amberson legacy is buried under the city's expansion. ### [XXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/chapters/xxxv) Remembered by George as a symbol of past Amberson glory. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/characters/major_amberson - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_magnificent_ambersons_se/characters