# Mrs. Derrick — The Octopus character guide

> Mrs. Derrick in The Octopus by Frank Norris.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Annie Derrick, Annie

**First appearance:** 0005-book-i

## Snapshot

Annie Derrick keeps the Los Muertos ranch house running while her husband Magnus gambles his honor on the wheat and the railroad.

## Who they are

She is the wife of Magnus Derrick, the former governor turned rancher, and mother to Lyman and Harran. Where her husband burns with political ambition and speculative fever, she tends toward quiet piety and domestic steadiness, a temperament that makes her the moral counterweight in a household mortgaged to the crop. Her small errands and gentle presence anchor the ranch's human scale, reminding the reader what is at stake when the railroad's grip tightens on the valley.

## In the story

### [Principal Characters in the Novel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_octopus_se/chapters/principal-characters-in-the-novel)

Wife of Magnus Derrick, named Annie Derrick.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_octopus_se/characters/mrs_derrick
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_octopus_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_octopus_se/characters