The Pit · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in The Pit by Frank Norris.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Laura Dearborn
major
Also known as Laura, Dearborn, the Laura Dearborn
Laura Dearborn arrives in Chicago from a narrow New England upbringing and finds herself the still center of a social whirl — the Cresslers' steps, Corthell's studio, Jadwin's trotters. She manages Landry with a lifted finger and holds marriage at arm's length, refusing to let any one admirer exclude the others. Her poise and refusal to be rushed set up the novel's central contest: which version of ambition, art, or appetite will finally claim her.
Laura Jadwin
major
Also known as Jadwin, Continually Jadwin, the Laura Jadwin, the other Laura Jadwin, Still Laura
Married and emancipated from her New England horizon, Laura drifts through operas, drives, and a mission-school Easter festival without asking what consequences will follow. Jadwin overwhelms her with the same aggressive persistence he brings to the market, and she never quite decides whether she loves him or merely enjoys being pursued. Her reluctance to look into the future quietly prepares the reckoning that will define the marriage.
Curtis Jadwin
major
Also known as Mr. Jadwin, Jadwin, this Jadwin, the capitalist Jadwin, Curtis, Often Jadwin, Mr. Curtis Jadwin
Jadwin drives over to the Cresslers' nightly, times his team with a stopwatch, and enlists Mrs. Cressler as an auxiliary in his pursuit of Laura. His addresses carry the vehemence of a market raid, leaving her no room for finesse or delay. That same appetite — patient, methodical, and total — is what will eventually carry him into the wheat Pit, where his private life and his speculations become one gamble.
Landry Court
supporting
Also known as Landry, That Landry Court, Court, Meanwhile Landry, Poor little Landry Court, But Landry, young Court
Landry hovers half in and half out of the Cresslers' vestibule shadow, penitent after some unnamed offense and desperate for Laura's smile. She manages him with a lifted finger, addressing him by his last name to signal that old intimacies are not to be resumed. His earnest, slightly hapless devotion makes him the baseline against which Laura measures the more formidable claims of Corthell and Jadwin.
Page Dearborn
supporting
Also known as Page, Miss Page, Sometimes Page
Page accompanies Laura on the Cresslers' steps, thrumming her mandolin while the older men circle, her boyish figure and grey-blue eyes still deepening toward a maturity her form hasn't caught up with. She primly declares Laura a flirt and parades her own ideas of good form, a small moral chorus against her sister's cool experiments in courtship. Her eventual marriage to Landry Court quietly extends the Dearborn sisters' story into the next generation of Chicago households.
Samuel Gretry
supporting
Also known as Sam, Gretry, Samuel, Sam Gretry
Gretry belongs to the tight circle of brokers and businessmen around Jadwin, his fortunes rising and falling with the wheat market's tides. When his house suspends, eighteen other Chicago firms fail the next day, and the shock reaches even the domestic letters between the Dearborn sisters. He is the human face of the speculative machinery that will eventually swallow Jadwin himself, a reminder that the Pit's casualties are counted in friendships as well as fortunes.
Mrs. Cressler
supporting
Also known as Cressler, the Cressler, Carrie, Poor Mrs. Cressler
Laura Dearborn's Chicago patroness, whose opera box and dinner table open the city's social world to two orphaned sisters from the East.
Sheldon Corthell
supporting
Also known as Mr. Corthell, Corthell, that Mr. Corthell, the old Corthell, Sheldon
A painter whose studio talk of art and beauty offers Laura a rival vision of life to the brute force of the grain trade.
Aunt Wess
minor
Also known as Aunt Wess
An elderly relative of the Dearborns, living with them.
Mr. Cressler
supporting
Also known as Cressler
A veteran grain dealer who has seen the pit ruin better men, and who watches his friend Jadwin's rise with unspoken dread.
C. H. Crookes
minor
Also known as Crookes, Ah Crookes, Calvin Hardy Crookes
A wheat trader and associate of Jadwin in the Pit.
Hargus
minor
Also known as poor old Hargus, Mr. Hargus, old Hargus
An old wheat trader, often seen in the Pit.
Charles Cressler
minor
Also known as Charlie, Charlie Cressler, Cressler, old Charlie
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Cressler, a young man about town.
Dave Scannel
minor
Also known as Scannel, Mr. Scannel, Mr. David Scannel
A rough, experienced wheat trader in the Pit.
Grossmann
minor
Also known as the insignificant Grossmann, Grossmann, the little Jew Grossmann
A Jewish wheat trader, often an obstacle to Jadwin.
Cressler Jadwin
minor
Also known as Jadwin, Cressler
A relative of Curtis Jadwin, possibly a cousin.
Monsieur Gerardy
minor
Also known as Gerardy
A Frenchman and associate in the wheat trade.
Mrs. Jadwin
minor
Also known as Jadwin
Curtis Jadwin's mother, a minor family figure.
Billy Freye
minor
Also known as Freye, Billy
A young man in the trading crowd, a friend of Landry.
Mrs. Emily Wessels
minor
Also known as Mrs. Wessels
A social acquaintance of the Jadwins.
Isabel Gretry
minor
Also known as Gretry, Isabel
Daughter of Samuel Gretry, a young woman in society.
Little Sweeny
minor
Also known as Sweeny
A minor character in the trading pit.
Hirsch
minor
Also known as Hirsch
A wheat trader in the Pit.
Annie
minor
Also known as Annie
A servant in the Dearborn household.
Winston
minor
Also known as the stolid Winston
A servant or employee in the Jadwin household.
Rusbridge
minor
Also known as Rusbridge
A wheat trader in the Pit.
Leaycraft
minor
Also known as The redoubtable Leaycraft
A formidable wheat trader in the Pit.
Marion
minor
Also known as the unfortunate Marion
A woman mentioned in passing, possibly a tragic figure.
Honey
minor
Also known as Honey
A minor character, possibly a servant or child.
Semple
minor
Also known as Barry Semple
A wheat trader in the Pit.
Billy Paterson
minor
Also known as Paterson, Billy
A young man in the trading crowd.
Mrs. Gretry
minor
Also known as Gretry
Wife of Samuel Gretry, a social figure.
Carrie
minor
Also known as Carrie
A servant or minor character in the household.
Mr. Helmick
minor
Also known as the Helmick, Helmick
A wheat trader in the Pit.
Mr. Court
minor
Also known as Mr. Court
Landry Court's father, mentioned briefly.
MacKenny
minor
Also known as the grey MacKenny
An older wheat trader in the Pit.
Kelly
minor
Also known as Kelly yonder
A minor character in the trading pit.
Henry
minor
Also known as Henry
A servant or minor character.
J.
minor
Also known as J.
A minor character, possibly a trader or acquaintance.
Abner
minor
Also known as Abner
A minor character, possibly a servant.
Captain
minor
Also known as Captain
A minor character, possibly a ship captain or military man.
Matthew
minor
Also known as Matthew
A minor character, possibly a servant.
Arthur
minor
Also known as Arthur
A minor character, possibly a friend of the family.
Jarvis
minor
Also known as Jarvis
A minor character, possibly a servant.
