Contents: IntroductionPlot Summary Themes Style Critical Overview Criticism Sources For Further Study |
Characters
Arden Bensenhaver
Arden Bensenhaver is the titular character in Garp's third novel, The World According to Bensenhaver. Bensenhaver is a police detective who works on the rape case of Hope Standish. His own wife was raped and murdered years earlier. Bensenhaver has no mercy for rapists, and he tampers with contradictory evidence in an effort to ensure that Hope's rape is seen exactly for what it is. Bensenhaver is forced to retire from the police force for his unorthodox methods, and Dorsey Standish, Hope's paranoid husband, hires the ex-detective as a bodyguard for his family. Hope forces her husband to make Bensenhaver leave their home after she tires of the bodyguard's intrusion on their family's life. Bensenhaver later has a stroke and returns to the Standish home. He mistakes Dorsey Standish for an intruder one night and shoots him. He lives the remainder of his life in an old-age home for the criminally insane.
Dean Bodger
Bodger is the gruff but caring dean of Steering School, an exclusive prep school for boys. He is one of the few people to befriend Jenny Fields, the school nurse, as she raises Garp at the school's infirmary. He drives around the school grounds at night, with a spotlight attached to his car, looking for students out past curfew. Garp attempts to capture pigeons on the infirmary roof one night and becomes dangerously trapped in a rusty gutter. Bodger shines his spotlight on the boy, startling the pigeons. The gutter breaks apart, but fortunately Jenny is there to catch the boy. One of the pigeons strikes Bodger in the chest and knocks the wind out of him. He regains consciousness thinking that he caught the falling Garp. He spends the rest of his life thinking that he has saved Garp's life. Later, he hires Garp to be the wrestling coach at Steering after Ernie Holm dies. Bodger remains dean long enough after Garp's death to see Duncan graduate from Steering. After his retirement, Bodger dies during a wrestling match.
Bonkers
Bonkers is the large, vicious Newfoundland dog owned by the Percy family. Jenny wants the dog put to sleep when it bites off a piece of Garp's ear, but Midge and Stewart Percy refuse to do it. Garp gets his revenge many years later on the night of his graduation as he is sneaking Cushie away from the Steering mansion. When Bonkers lunges at him, Garp uses a wrestling move to throw the old dog down and bites part of the animal's ear off.
Bonkie
Florence Cochran Bowlsby
Florence Cochran Bowlsby is the seductive, divorced mother of Duncan's friend Ralph. Garp refers to her as "Mrs. Ralph" because he never learns her name. Garp's first close encounter with Florence occurs when he chases her down for speeding. Garp, although he is somewhat attracted to her, doesn't approve of her behavior. Florence recognizes this, and she assures him that Duncan, who is spending the night at her house, will be safe. Later that evening, the restless Garp decides to run by the woman's house to make sure that Duncan is secure. He finds the woman drunk and depressed; she asks him to make the young man in her bedroom leave. Garp forces the young man to leave. Florence then tries to seduce Garp, but Garp controls himself. He realizes that he has misjudged her before he leaves with Duncan. Florence ultimately obtains a Ph.D. in comparative literature. She corresponds with Helen after Garp's death, writing in a letter that "[Garp's] seduction [was a] non-occurrence I have always regretted but respected."
Charlotte
Charlotte is one of the prostitutes that Garp and Jenny meet in Vienna. Jenny pays the beautiful, older prostitute to sit with them and answer Jenny's questions about lust. Garp finds himself attracted to her and he eventually becomes one of her regular customers, as well as her friend. One evening, Garp cannot find her, and he discovers that she is sick in the hospital with cancer. He visits her often, telling the nurses that he is her son. Charlotte's death disturbs him. He later finds out that Charlotte has paid Tina and Wanga, two other prostitutes, to each give him a session for free.
Dickie
Dickie is the brother of Harriet Truckenmiller, the wife of Jenny's assassin. He is one of several men who were forced to shoot Kenny Truckenmiller after he murdered Jenny. He is very protective of his sister when Garp visits her incognito.
The Dream-Teller
The dream-teller is one of the members of the Circus Szolnok in Garp's short story, "The Pension Grillparzer." He was married to Herr Theobald's sister at one time. He accurately tells the disturbing dream of Johanna, the grandmother of the traveling family in the story. She is so upset that she slaps him. The dream-teller is institutionalized years later when he goes mad. His removal from the pension coincides with its return to a Class C rating.
Duna
Duna is the old, unicycle-riding bear in Garp's short story, "The Pension Grillparzer." He is owned by the sister of Herr Theobald, the pension's manager. Duna is part of a pathetic Hungarian circus troupe living at the Pension Grillparzer. The bear becomes senile and is forced to move into a zoo. He dies at the zoo, "embarrassed to death" when zoo officials must shave his chest to treat a rash.
Fat Stew
Father
The father is one of the characters in Garp's short story, "The Pension Grillparzer." His job is to rate various hotels, restaurants, and pensions for the Austrian Tourist Bureau. He is a decent man who brings his family along on his travels. He constantly makes mental notes about the establishments he examines. His assignment in the story is to investigate the Pension Grillparzer's application to be upgraded from a Class C rating to a Class B. Despite his family's odd experience at the pension, he very kindly upgrades the rating.
Jenny Fields
Jenny Fields is the eccentric mother of Garp. She is a strong, independent woman who, as a young nurse in Boston during World War II, is ahead of her time. She lives alone, much to her family's chagrin. They believe that she must be leading a promiscuous lifestyle. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth; Jenny has no interest in sharing either her body or her life with a man. She is basically asexual, and perhaps somewhat aloof, but she is not without warmth or passion. In fact, she discovers that she loves children as she works in the obstetrics ward of Boston Mercy Hospital. She informs her colleagues that she is determined to use a man to impregnate her, no strings attached. The administration of the hospital learns of her plans and she is transferred to the intensive care unit. It is in the ICU that she is actually able to fulfill her wishes as she cares for the brain-damaged Technical Sergeant Garp. She uses the helpless, yet aroused, soldier to impregnate herself.
After Jenny gives birth to Garp, she gets a job as a nurse at the Steering School, an exclusive prep school for boys. Garp later notes that: "It's odd that my mother, who perceived herself well enough to know that she wanted nothing to do with living with a man, ended up living with eight hundred boys." Jenny raises Garp at the infirmary and cares for him through the various traumatic incidents of his childhood. She watches as Garp becomes a champion wrestler, falls in love with his coach's daughter, and nurtures his talent as a writer. She travels with him to Austria, where both plan to write. She is perturbed by the nature of lust, and her opinions on the subject play a large role in her autobiography, A Sexual Suspect.
The publication of Jenny's book makes her a celebrity and a feminist champion. She also becomes wealthy and is able to support Garp and Helen, who have married, as they pursue their respective careers. She attracts a wide variety of followers, including the Ellen Jamesians and transsexual Roberta Muldoon. She opens her family's mansion at Dog's Head Harbor as a retreat for troubled women. After the accident that kills Walt Garp and maims the rest of the family, Jenny nurses them back to health at Dog's Head Harbor. Helen and Garp have a daughter they name after Jenny. Garp writes The World According to Bensenhaver during his recovery and John Wolf, his editor, recommends that he leave the country before the book's release to avoid the publicity. Jenny becomes involved with the New Hampshire gubernatorial campaign while Garp and his family are out of the country. She supports a female candidate who is being demonized by her male rival. Jenny is assassinated when she appears to speak at a rally in support of the woman. Garp, as executor of Jenny's estate, agrees to establish the Fields Foundation. The foundation continues Jenny's work helping women in need.
Alice Fletcher
Alice Fletcher is the wife of Professor Harrison Fletcher. She is a frustrated writer with a speech impediment. She and Garp fall in love when Helen agrees to a swap of partners in an ill-conceived attempt to teach Harrison not to have affairs with students. Alice is heartbroken when Helen ends the swap after six months. Alice and Harrison are forced to move away because the university learns of his affair with the student. Alice later has a daughter who becomes a cello player. The daughter goes on a date with Duncan after a New York City performance. Alice and Harrison end up dying in a plane crash on a trip to Martinique.
Harrison Fletcher
Harrison Fletcher is a colleague of Helen Holm. The professor is married to a lisping writer named Alice. The Garps and the Fletchers become friends. Garp discovers that Alice cannot write because of Harrison's love affair with one of his students. When Helen finds out, she proposes that the couples swap partners in an effort to make Harrison forget his dalliance with the student. The swap is a disaster; Alice and Garp fall in love, and Harrison falls in love with Helen. Helen breaks the affair off when she realizes it is useless. Harrison is forced to take a job at another college when the university denies him tenure because of his affair with the student. He and Alice later die in a plane crash on the way to Martinique.
Duncan Garp
Duncan is the first son of Garp and Helen. Garp assumes the traditionally female role of primary caretaker in bringing up both Duncan and Walt. This allows him to write as Helen teaches. Garp is an extremely protective father, and both of the boys grow up in relative safety and comfort until the horrible car accident that kills Walt and maims Duncan. Duncan loses his right eye when his head is impaled on the knobless stick shift of Garp's Volvo. Duncan recovers at Dog's Head Harbor, and his artistic talents emerge when he begins to study photography. He illustrates a version of "The Pension Grillparzer." Duncan attends Steering School after Garp's death. He becomes a close friend to Roberta Muldoon and Ellen James, and he helps raise his younger sister, Jenny. He also becomes an accomplished painter and photographer. He survives a motorcycle accident, but loses one of his arms. After Roberta's death, he marries one of the former football player's transsexual friends. He helps Donald Whitcomb publish Garp's unfinished novel, My Father's Illusions. He lives a long life before choking to death on an olive as he laughs at one of his own jokes.
Jenny Garp
Jenny Garp is born after the death of Walt. She is named after her grandmother, Jenny Fields. She is a toddler when Garp is assassinated. She is brought up by Helen, Duncan, and Ellen James. While caring for Duncan during his recovery from a motorcycle accident, she decides to become a doctor. Jenny is married, twice, and gives birth to three children. She becomes a director of a branch of the National Cancer Institute. She orders copies of Garp's novels in stores across America in order to keep his books in print. After a long life, she dies of cancer.
T. S. Garp
The World According to Garp is the life story of T. S. Garp, bastard son of proto-feminist nurse Jenny Fields. Garp is reared by his loving, dangerously straightforward, and independent mother at an exclusive prep academy for boys, the Steering School. Jenny is a nurse at the school, and she lives with Garp in the school's infirmary. Garp is eventually old enough to attend the school and he becomes a champion wrestler. He falls in love with his wrestling coach's daughter, Helen Holm, and he works to become a writer to win her heart. After he graduates, he travels to Europe (joined by his mother) for inspiration. He writes his first serious short story, "The Pension Grillparzer," while living in Vienna. The story convinces Helen that he is a true writer and they marry. Meanwhile, to Garp's horror, Jenny's autobiography turns her into a celebrity.
Garp writes and cares for the children while Helen teaches at a university. The novel details Garp's many struggles with his art. He is forced to deal with a nonexistent audience for his work, irate readers, and writer's block. Garp and Helen love each other dearly, but their marriage is forced to survive many trials. First, they make an odd attempt to save another couple's marriage by swapping partners. Garp has affairs with babysitters and Helen takes a graduate student as a lover. Finally, their marriage faces the ultimate test when a tragic car accident kills one child and permanently disfigures another. They spend months physically and mentally healing at Garp's mother's home at Dog's Head Harbor. Garp and Helen finally forgive each other, and Garp purges the horror of the accident by writing The World According to Bensenhaver, a disturbing and violent novel.
Garp is often at odds with his mother throughout his life. He is irritated by her attitude toward lust and he dislikes many of the oddballs she attracts (with the exception of Roberta Muldoon, who becomes a good friend). However, in many ways, Garp is much like his mother. He shares her love for children; he is a good nurturer. He is also stubborn and fearlessly opinionated. It is these latter traits that doom both mother and son. Garp is murdered not long after his mother is assassinated. Perhaps the most succinct analysis of Garp's character is made at the beginning of chapter 11:
If Garp could have been granted one vast and naíve wish, it would have been that he could make the world safe. For children and for grownups. The world struck Garp as unnecessarily perilous for both.
Technical Sergeant Garp
Technical Sergeant Garp is the brain-damaged, ball-turret gunner that Jenny discovers in the ICU of Boston Mercy. A severe head wound causes the soldier to regress to infancy. Jenny nurses the man as the debilitating injury slowly but surely kills him. Although the man has the mind of an infant, Jenny realizes that he is potent enough for her to realize her dream of pregnancy and she uses him successfully. The soldier dies a short time later; Jenny never learns his first name.
Walt Garp
Walt is the second son of Helen and Garp. He dies tragically in the car accident that maims the rest of his family. Later in the book, the family discusses the origin of its code for an indefinable feeling of fear just beneath the surface of everyday life: the Under Toad. One day while swimming, Walt misunderstood his father's instructions to "watch out for the undertow" as "watch out for the Under Toad." Walt mistakenly believed that a creature lived in the water waiting to pull unwary swimmers underneath. In an afterword written twenty years after the original publication of The World According Garp, Irving admits that the idea of the Under Toad came from one of his own children.
Hathaway
Hathaway is the lacrosse player laid up in the Steering School infirmary with two broken legs when young Garp disappears. Hathaway tells the impressionable, five-year-old Garp that a lacrosse stick might be used to capture the noisy pigeons living on the roof. Garp almost falls off the roof when he steals Hathaway's stick in an attempt to catch the pigeons.
Herr Theobald's Sister
Herr Theobald's sister is the owner of Duna the bear in Garp's short story, "The Pension Grillparzer." She has, at one time or another, been married to each of the members of the Circus Szolnok. Her brother allows the circus to stay at his pension. She is forced to give Duna to the zoo after the bear grows senile. She is the only one left when the narrator of the story returns years later to visit the pension.
Ernie Holm
Ernie Holm is the wrestling coach at Steering and the father of Helen. Originally from Iowa, Ernie goes to New Hampshire to coach after his wife leaves him and abandons Helen. He turns the Steering wrestling team into state champions, and Garp becomes one of his star wrestlers. Ernie becomes friends with Jenny Fields after she signs Garp up for the team. He dies of a heart attack while reading pornography shortly after Jenny's assassination.
Helen Holm
Helen is the daughter of Steering School wrestling coach, Ernie Holm. Helen's father brought her to New Hampshire from Iowa after her mother abandoned them. Helen is a bright, studious girl who is always reading. Helen tells Garp she will only marry a real writer, and the lovesick Garp is determined to become one. He demonstrates his ability after he graduates from Steering and travels to Vienna to write "The Pension Grillparzer." For Garp, Helen is the quintessential audience, the ultimate reader. She agrees to marry him.
Their marriage triumphs over great adversity. Helen, usually sensible, makes a poor decision when she decides that swapping partners would be the best way to save the Fletchers' marriage. Helen, weary of Garp's egocentrism, takes a graduate student as a lover. This leads indirectly to the horrible car accident that kills Walt and maims Duncan. However, Helen and Garp are able to forgive each other while mourning, and they have another child. She cannot bring herself to read The World According to Bensenhaver, because she knows that Garp has used the writing of the lurid novel as a catharsis for the loss of Walt. Helen is incapable of restraining Garp from becoming a public figure after he publishes the novel and his mother is assassinated. Garp publishes a defense of an essay written by Ellen James against Helen's wishes. After Garp is murdered, Helen protects his memory by jealously guarding his journals and unpublished work. Donald Whitcomb, the young Steering English teacher who worships Garp, is the only outsider who is granted access to Garp's papers. Helen remains close to Roberta Muldoon and John Wolf. She lives a long life, and while there are other men, none can compete with the memory of Garp.
The Hungarian Singer
The Hungarian singer is one of the characters in Garp's short story, "The Pension Grillparzer." He is a member of the sad circus troupe living in the pension. He was once married to Herr Theobald's sister. He runs off with another woman at the end of the story.
Ellen James
Ellen James is the namesake of the radical feminist group known as the Ellen Jamesians. As a young girl, Ellen was beaten and raped by a group of thugs; her tongue was sliced off in an effort to prevent her from identifying them, but they neglected the young girl's ability to write. The members of the Ellen Jamesians purposely remove their own tongues as both a show of "support" for Ellen and a protest against the mistreatment of women by men. The Ellen Jamesians are major supporters of Jenny Fields, but Garp despises them. Garp meets the actual Ellen James as he returns from his mother's funeral. She resents the Ellen Jamesians as well. She admires Garp and hopes to one day be a writer as well. Garp invites her to join his family at Steering. Ellen writes an essay rejecting the Ellen Jamesians and Garp encourages her to publish it. Garp's defense of this essay leads to increased hostility between him and the Jamesians and, ultimately, to his assassination. Ellen stays with the Garp family after the novelist's death. She becomes a respected poet, and Roberta Muldoon often reads her work in public for her. She becomes an accomplished swimmer as well, but she drowns one day when the undertow is too strong.
Jenny's Brothers
Jenny's two unnamed brothers (one a law student, the other a legal professor) come to her rescue when she is arrested for stabbing a soldier who gropes her in a movie theater. They, like their parents, misunderstand Jenny. They mistake her independence for promiscuity. One of the brothers dies during World War II, and the other is killed in a sailboating accident.
Jenny's Father
Jenny's father is the wealthy owner of a shoe manufacturing company. Her father, like the rest of the family, doesn't understand her independence. He believes that Jenny is promiscuous, and Jenny's pregnancy convinces him that he was right. He allows her to live at the family's home while her pregnancy comes to term. He is disappointed when she takes a job at Steering School because he would rather she stay in hiding at Dog's Head Harbor until her bastard son grows up and moves away.
Jenny's Mother
Jenny's mother disapproves of Jenny's solitary lifestyle. Again, like the rest of the family, she believes that Jenny is promiscuous. She gives the young nurse dozens of what Jenny believes are water bottles. Later, Jenny discovers that her mother was really giving her dozens of douche bags.
Johanna
Johanna is the grandmother who travels with the family in Garp's short story, "The Pension Grillparzer." The father in the family works for the Austrian Tourist Bureau. He travels to critique the various hotels, restaurants, and pensions around the country. Johanna is described as a "regal dame" with little patience for some of the lower-class places the family is forced to stay. She is shaken and disturbed when a "dream-teller" at the Pension Grillparzer relates her mysterious dream to the family at dinner. The family leaves the circus-like atmosphere of the pension with the upset Johanna after only one night. Johanna dies in her sleep some time later.
The Man Who Could Walk Only on His Hands
The man who could walk only on his hands is one of the circus characters in Garp's short story, "The Pension Grillparzer." He can walk only on his hands because the Russians supposedly removed his shin bones. As with all the other (human) members of the Circus Szolnok, the man was at one time married to Herr Theobald's sister. He is killed when his necktie gets caught in an escalator.
Michael Milton
Michael Milton is the unlikable, arrogant graduate student taken as a lover by Helen. Milton is a pompous Francophile. He stubbornly refuses to accept Helen's break-up phone call as their final meeting and insists on going to her house while Garp takes the boys to the movies. He is horribly mutilated in the ensuing accident in Garp's driveway. Years later, he visits Duncan Garp, posing as a biographer and asking questions about the accident. Duncan, who does not recognize Milton because he never knew him, sends the man away.
Mother
The mother is one of the characters in Garp's short story, "The Pension Grillparzer." She travels with her family as her husband rates the hotels of Austria for the Austria Tourist Bureau. She grows tired of the pension because of the effect the visit is having on her mother, Johanna. Later, after Johanna dies, the mother begins having the same strange dream told by the dream-teller at the Pension Grillparzer.
Robert Muldoon
Roberta Muldoon
Roberta Muldoon is the lovable transsexual who becomes a close associate of Jenny Fields and an intimate friend of the Garp family. Roberta is the former Robert Muldoon, a tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. She admires Jenny and is extremely protective of the provocative nurse. Roberta and Garp become especially close; she often cries on his shoulder after breaking up with one of her many lovers. Roberta blames herself when Jenny is assassinated, and she is heartbroken when Garp is murdered as well. She remains close to the remaining members of the Garp family after Garp's death. She has an affair with Garp's editor, John Wolf. She dies while Duncan Garp is recovering from a motorcycle accident.
Narrator of "the Pension Grillparzer"
One of many characters in the stories within the novel is the narrator of Garp's short story "The Pension Grillparzer." The narrator of the story is the older of two brothers who travel with their family to hotels across Austria. The father works for the Austrian Tourist Bureau; he secretly ranks the hotels, pensions, and restaurants that the family visits. The narrator drives the car for the family and helps determine the rankings. His visit to the Pension Grillparzer deeply affects him and he visits the pension years later to discover its sad condition.
Bainbridge Percy
Bainbridge (Pooh) Percy is the odd and disturbed youngest child of the Percy family. She wears diapers until she is a teenager. For some strange reason, she bears a grudge against men in general and Garp in particular. She recognizes Garp at his mother's funeral and alerts the other women. Garp is forced to flee. Pooh later becomes an Ellen Jamesian and murders Garp. After being institutionalized for many years, Pooh is finally rehabilitated. She works with retarded children and, at the age of fifty-four, she has her own child. She dies of a stroke after a long life.
Cushie Percy
Cushman Percy
Cushie Percy is the eldest daughter of Stewart and Midge Percy. She and Garp are childhood friends who become physically attracted to each other as teenagers. Garp shares his earliest sexual experiences with Cushie. They spend Garp's graduation night together in the Steering School infirmary. Several years later, Cushie dies during childbirth.
Midge Percy
Midge Percy is the heir to the Steering fortune. She and her husband Stewart live in the sprawling Steering mansion with their five children and a dog, Bonkers. Midge is a conceited woman who looks down her nose at Jenny and Garp. Although Jenny allows Garp to play with the Percy children, she is contemptuous of the adult Percys. Jenny is furious when Midge refuses to have Bonkers put to sleep after the dog bites Garp. Midge does not recognize Garp at the funeral of her husband.
Pooh Percy
Stewart Percy
Stewart Percy is the boorish husband of Midge Percy (heir to the Steering fortune). He meets Midge Percy in Hawaii while he is in the service. Stewart teaches a ridiculous class at Steering called "My Part of the Pacific," which details the history of the two naval battles in which he was present. The students call him "Fat Stew" and "Paunch" behind his back. Stewart looks down on Jenny and Garp. Jenny, recognizing this disdain, dislikes him intensely. She gets a great deal of pleasure informing Stewart that "Garp bit Bonkie." Stewart dies soon after Jenny's assassination, and he and Ernie Holm are buried on the same day.
Benny Potter
Benny Potter is a cruel student who mocks the English teacher Tinch. Years after they graduate, Potter runs into Garp in the bar of a New York City hotel. Potter cavalierly informs Garp of Tinch's death. Garp angrily roughs Potter up.
Ralph
Ralph is Duncan's friend, the son of Florence Cochran Owlsby (known to Garp as "Mrs. Ralph"). He grows up to become a newspaperman and is killed in a war.
Mrs. Ralph
Randy
Randy is the young hippie that "Mrs. Ralph" asks Garp to remove from her bedroom. Randy ignores the woman's commands to leave and Garp must use force to get him out of the house. Later, the police pick Garp up as he is carrying Duncan home, and Randy is in the car. After the accident, Randy appears briefly at Dog's Head Harbor and befriends Duncan. He leaves, discouraged by Garp's intolerance.
Oren Rath
Oren Rath is the ignorant brute who rapes Hope Standish and forever alters the course of her family's life in Garp's third novel, The World According to Bensenhaver. Hope kills him with his fishing knife while he is raping her.
Robo
Robo is the narrator's younger brother in Garp's short story, "The Pension Grillparzer." He travels with the family as they rate various hotels and restaurants. Robo's main concern is how well each establishment cooks its eggs. He is more entertained than frightened by the strange occurrences at the Pension Grillparzer; he actually enjoys his stay. Years later, he dies in an explosion at the university he attends.
Jillsy Sloper
Jillsy Sloper is an uneducated black woman who cleans the office of editor John Wolf. Occasionally, when the editor is determining whether or not to publish a particular book, he will give a manuscript to Jillsy. He first discovered that Jillsy had a knack for predicting popular success when he gave her A Sexual Suspect, the autobiography of Jenny Fields. He is astonished when Jillsy tells him that she couldn't stop reading Garp's lurid, violent novel, The World According to Bensenhaver. Garp dedicates the novel to Jillsy at Wolf's suggestion even though he has never met the woman. Garp finally does meet her on the day of his mother's funeral; she tells the surprised novelist that Jenny "was worth two or three of you!" Jillsy ends up dying of breast cancer.
Dorsey Standish
Dorsey Standish is one of the characters in Garp's third novel, The World According to Bensenhaver. His wife's horrible rape turns him into an overprotective, hopelessly paranoid man. He attempts to protect his family by hiring Bensenhaver, the ex-detective who worked on his wife's rape case, as a private bodyguard. His wife resents Bensenhaver's intrusion into the family's life and she forces her husband to make him leave. The couple loses their second child to a horrible accident while Dorsey is spying on Hope (he correctly believes she is having an affair). Dorsey becomes sterile and concocts an outlandish scheme for Hope to become pregnant by her lover so that they can have another child. Meanwhile, Bensenhaver has a stroke and he is allowed to return to the Standish home. One night, Bensenhaver mistakenly shoots and kills Dorsey as the man lurks about the house spying on his wife.
Hope Standish
Hope Standish is the woman who is brutally raped in the first chapter of Garp's third novel, The World According to Bensenhaver. She is forced to kill her rapist, Oren Rath, as he rapes her. Arden Bensenhaver is the detective who finds her after the ordeal. Hope is victimized not only by her rape, but by her husband's overwrought reaction to the rape. Although her husband hires Bensenhaver as a bodyguard, Hope resents the intrusion into her family's life and forces Dorsey to make the ex-detective leave. She suggests having a second child in an effort to counter her husband's anxieties. Unfortunately, the child accidentally chokes to death on a piece of gum when Dorsey leaves the two boys alone to follow his wife. Hope is having an affair because she can no longer bear her husband's idiosyncrasies. Dorsey, who becomes sterile, determines that Hope should try to become pregnant by her lover, but she should not see the man for any other reason. Dorsey is killed by Bensenhaver, who mistakes Dorsey for an intruder as Dorsey sneaks around the house. Hope does have another child. She and her family are now able to live a happy life, free from the anxieties of her dead husband.
Margie Tallworth
Michael Milton breaks off a relationship with college student Margie Tallworth when Helen agrees to have an affair with him. Margie sees Helen in Michael's car and writes a note to Garp informing him of the affair.
Herr Theobald
Herr Theobald is the owner of the pension in Garp's short story, "The Pension Grillparzer." He desperately desires to upgrade his pension's rating from a Class C to a Class B. However, he cannot bring himself to expel the Circus Szolnok from the pension's premises because of his sister's involvement with the odd troupe. The father in the story, a representative of the Austrian Tourist Bureau, pities the man and upgrades the pension from a C to a B. Herr Theobald dies years later while investigating strange noises in the night. He has a heart attack when he sees Duna the bear wearing the dream-teller's suit.
Tina
Tina is one of the prostitutes Garp meets in Vienna. She has a large scar on her forehead resembling a peach pit. Charlotte tells Garp that nothing is "too funny" for Tina. After Charlotte's death, Tina informs Garp that Charlotte has paid for two free "visits" with the prostitutes.
Mr. Tinch
Mr. Tinch is the stuttering, halitosis-cursed, English teacher who becomes a kind of mentor to Garp while he attends Steering School. His nickname among the students is "Stench." When Tinch asks Garp if his breath stinks in front of the class, Garp denies it to spare his teacher from embarrassment. It is Tinch who recommends that Garp and Jenny stay in Vienna when they travel to Europe. On his way home from a faculty party one winter night, Tinch slips, hits his head, loses consciousness, and freezes to death.
Harriet Truckenmiller
Harriet Truckenmiller is the divorced wife of the man, Kenny Truckenmiller, who assassinates Jenny Fields. She is a hairdresser in a small New Hampshire town. She is looked after by her brother, Dickie. Garp visits her, in disguise, to determine whether she deserves a grant from the Fields Foundation. He determines that she does indeed deserve a grant and tells the board to give her money.
Kenny Truckenmiller
Kenny Truckenmiller is the assassin of Jenny Fields. He is a deer hunter who blames Jenny for his divorce from his wife, Harriet. After shooting Jenny, he is gunned down by a group of men including Dickie, his brother-in-law.
Wanga
Wanga is one of the prostitutes Garp meets in Vienna. She has a disfigured lip from a cut obtained when she was a child. Garp later uses the free sessions paid for by Charlotte for "visits" with Wanga.
Donald Whitcomb
Donald Whitcomb is the young English teacher at Steering who worships Garp. He witnesses Garp's assassination in the gymnasium. He befriends Helen, and she chooses him to write Garp's biography. He waits until Helen's death to write the last chapter.
John Wolf
John Wolf is the editor whose company publishes both the autobiography of Jenny Fields and the novels of T. S. Garp. He has a sharp eye for work that has the potential to be a popular or critical success. However, he also listens to the opinion of his cleaning woman, Jillsy Sloper, whenever he is stumped. He becomes a friend and confidant to Garp. He ruthlessly, but cleverly, uses Garp's tragedy to publicize The World According to Bensenhaver. He has an affair with Roberta Muldoon after Garp's death. Wolf dies of cancer before he can see Garp's biography in print.
Media Adaptations
- The World According to Garp was adapted as a film written by Steve Tesich, directed by George Roy Hill, starring Robin Williams and Glenn Close, with music by David Shire, for Warner Brothers in 1982; it is available on Warner Brothers home video.
- An unabridged audio-book version of The World according to Garp, narrated by Michael Prichard, was released by Random House Audiobooks in 1998.
