Let the Great World Spin: Analysis of Major Characters
"Let the Great World Spin" features a diverse cast of characters whose lives intertwine amidst the backdrop of the South Bronx and Manhattan. John Andrew Corrigan, a selfless Irish monk, embodies faith and compassion as he engages with the local community of prostitutes and the marginalized, despite his own struggles and eventual tragic fate. His younger brother, Ciaran, contrasts with John's idealism, representing a more pragmatic view of life as he navigates personal loss and ultimately finds love and success in Ireland.
Claire Soderberg, a grieving mother from Manhattan, grapples with the loss of her son in Vietnam, showcasing the emotional toll of war and the connections formed through shared grief. The narrative also includes Tillie and Jazzlyn Henderson, an African-American mother-daughter duo entrenched in the struggles of prostitution, whose lives reflect the harsh realities of survival and sacrifice in their quest for freedom and stability.
Adelita, a nurse and John’s romantic interest, challenges his commitment to his faith while providing support during his health crisis. Meanwhile, Gloria, another resident of the Bronx, represents resilience as she steps in to care for Jazzlyn's children, demonstrating the strength of community bonds in times of tragedy. Together, these characters navigate themes of love, loss, and redemption, offering readers a poignant exploration of human connection in the face of adversity.
Let the Great World Spin: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Colum McCann
First published: 2009
Genre: Novel
Locale: Ireland; New York City
Plot: Drama
Time: From 1974 to present day
John Andrew Corrigan, is a monk from Ireland living among pimps and prostitutes in a South Bronx, New York tenement and is a symbol of faith. Although he studied with the Jesuits, Corrigan seemingly is not attached to a religious order. Corrigan has lived a cleric's existence since his teen years in Dublin, Ireland, when he began sneaking out of his home to spend time among alcoholics and the homeless, often giving his possessions (clothes, blankets) to the more needy. He lives with his mother, a musician, and his younger brother Ciaran. His father leaves the family to work at Oxford when the boys are young and doesn't return until their mother dies from kidney cancer when they are 17 and 19, respectively. Corrigan relocates to the South Bronx to do his version of god's work. He helps local prostitutes by allowing them to use his apartment to rest, have a cold drink, or utilize the bathroom. He also brings them coffee and sodas and has been beaten by pimps who eventually come to respect him. Corrigan becomes especially close to mother-daughter prostitutes Tillie and Jazzlyn Henderson. He also has a job driving nursing-home patients in his dilapidated van. At the nursing home he falls deeply in love with Adelita, a nurse, and has a romantic relationship—including sex—with her. Corrigan is diagnosed with a rare blood disease called TTP. He dies after his van is wrecked when hit from the rear on the FDR Drive. Jazzlyn is killed in the crash.
Ciaran Corrigan, is John Andrew's younger brother by two years. Unlike his religious brother, Ciaran has a desk job in Ireland, but eventually follows John to the South Bronx after an explosion amputates part of his ear. He doesn't share his brother's idealism or faith and tells John that the prostitutes use him for their own gain and that nothing good will come of his relationship with them. He takes a job bartending in Queens and ponders writing a play. Ciaran sometimes fills in for John at the nursing home when the latter is performing his charity work. Following John's death in a car wreck, Ciaran surprisingly falls in love with Lara Liveman, a painter whose boyfriend causes the accident that kills his brother. Ultimately, Ciaran and Lara marry and relocate to Ireland, where he launches a successful Internet company.
Claire Soderberg, is a rich, white woman living on Park Avenue and Seventy-sixth Street in Manhattan. She is married to Solomon, a judge, and is the mother of a single son, Joshua, who was killed in Vietnam. She is 52 years old, thin, and has a “badger streak” of gray hair. She is a nervous smoker and drinker. Claire is haunted by the death of her son and meets with a group of women whose boys also died in the war. Joshua was a computer specialist and was killed when hand grenades were tossed into the café where he was drinking. Claire often rises from her bed in the night while her husband sleeps and stands in front of the open freezer so the cold air can wash over her skin, believing she somehow connects to Joshua while doing this. When an army representative comes bearing the news of Joshua's death, Claire politely smiles and remains silent, but is angry at herself for showing no emotion, while Solomon, her husband, screams furiously at the sergeant. She becomes close friends with Gloria, a member of the mothers' group, who lost three sons to combat.
Tillie Henderson, is an African-American prostitute living in the same South Bronx tenement building as John Corrigan. While working, she carries a parasol to hide her face while displaying her alluring body to attract customers. She is 38 years old and has been hooking since 15. She has been arrested 54 times under various aliases, including Miss Bliss, Puzzle, Rosa Parks, and Sweet Cakes. She is the mother of Jazzlyn, also a prostitute. Despite her seeming lack of education, Tillie is intelligent and likes reading the works of thirteenth-century Persian poet Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi. After she and Jazzlyn are arrested in a police vice sweep, Tillie agrees to plead guilty to reduced charges in exchange for Jazzlyn's release to care for her two children. Tillie receives an eight-month sentence in the Rikers Island jail, but eventually has 18 months added to her sentence for fighting with another prisoner and assaulting the jail's matron and is sent to a correctional facility in southern Connecticut. In a horrible twist of irony, Tillie's pleading guilty to win Jazzlyn's freedom results in her daughter's and John Corrigan's deaths in a car accident on the way home from court. Tillie commits suicide in prison.
Jazzlyn Henderson, is an African-American teen prostitute sharing an apartment with her prostitute mother, Tillie, and her two daughters, Jazzlyn and Janet, in the South Bronx. She often flirts with John Corrigan and like her mother, seems to harbor a romantic interest in the religious cleric. Jazzlyn is killed in a car wreck with John after being released from jail when her mother agrees to plead guilty so she can care for her two daughters. She is buried at St. Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx. Tillie is escorted to the funeral by two police officers.
Adelita, is a nurse at the nursing home where John Corrigan works transporting patients. She is the Central American widow of a Guatemalan army officer who she disliked. She has two children, Eliana, age 7, and a five-year-old boy named Jacobo. Despite John Corrigan's self-imposed vow of chastity, he and Adelita fall deeply in love and embark on a sexual relationship. She is a challenge to John's faith. She diagnoses John's TTP disease and pushes him to seek medical help.
Gloria, is an African-American woman who lost three sons—Clarence, Jason, and Brandon—in the Vietnam War. She grew up in Missouri and is descended from slaves. Her father was a sign painter who suffered a stroke. She attended Syracuse University and fought for civil rights in the 1960s. She becomes close friends with Claire, who helps her after she is mugged by a Puerto Rican girl at knifepoint. Gloria lives in the same South Bronx tenement building as John Corrigan and the prostitutes Tillie and Jazzlyn Henderson. When Jazzlyn and John are killed and Tillie sent to jail, Gloria takes in Jazz's two daughters and raises them as her own children.