# Mr. Vertrees — The Turmoil character guide

> Mr. Vertrees in The Turmoil by Booth Tarkington.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** V Mr. Vertrees

**First appearance:** 0004-iii

## Snapshot

A gentleman of the old school whose Landseers and breeding cannot pay bills, he watches his daughter's courtship with a hope he dare not speak aloud.

## Who they are

Mr. Vertrees belongs to a fading order of gentility, a man raised to talk around things rather than name them, now living next door to the raw new money of Sheridan's New House. He and his wife share a slender, unspoken hope that Mary's beauty might restore what their pride has lost, a hope neither can bear to put into words. His silent, backward-looking dignity makes him the quiet counterweight to Sheridan's blustering energy, and the measure of what the new century is displacing.

## In the story

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/iii)

Mentioned as a gentleman of old family who lives on his income; James Sheridan hopes to meet him.

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

Paces the library anxiously, reflecting on his financial ruin; he watches Mary and her mother leave and return, deeply concerned about their future.

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xvii)

Discusses financial dissolution with his wife, opposes Mary selling her furs, and expresses bitterness toward the city and Sheridan.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xix)

Mentioned as distressed by the removal of the piano from the room.

### [Chapter XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxviii)

Mentioned as having tried unsuccessfully to find a job for over two years; the Vertrees house was sold on foreclosure.

### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxxi)

His failed stock is purchased by Bibbs for $1,155.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/characters/mr_vertrees
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/characters