Character Clues

Character Analysis

Speech and Dialogue

How people talk in Everneath can give us some clues about who they are on the inside. For instance, Lacey (Nikki's rival for Jack's attention) says the following about Nikki, when she doesn't know Nikki is able to hear her: "I gave him everything. He told me he loved me. And the second that little slut gives him one opening, he takes off" (5.94). While two sentences here might make us feel badly for Lacey, she quickly undoes out sympathy with the last sentence—it's hard to feel much for someone who speaks so cruelly about characters we know to be good.

Along similar lines, Cole (disguised as "Neal") picks on Jack at their high school. When Nikki calls him out on it, Cole says: "I can't help it […] He's such an easy target" (13.33). For all that Cole insists he cares about Nikki at various points, in moments like this one, it's clear that he's someone who's very comfortable using people's weak spots against them. Very comfortable—like, he "can't help it"; it just comes that naturally to him.

Actions

There are plenty of ways in which Nikki has a good head on her shoulders, but she's also a tad impulsive. Since the story's told from her perspective we don't get a lot of direct characterizations like "Hi, my name is Nikki, and I'm super impulsive," but what we do get are descriptions of her actions. And these pictures are worth thousands of words.

For instance, when Nikki overhears her dad telling the newspaper that their family will forgive her mother's killer, who was acquitted on a technicality, she freaks out: "I threw my backpack at him. Without warning. It hit him in the face before I even realized it'd left my hands" (21.42). While we totally get why she's upset, throwing her backpack and hitting her dad in the face so fast she doesn't even realize she's doing it let's us know that sometimes Nikki's head takes the backseat to her heart—instantaneously.

Right after that, Nikki makes yet another super-impulsive action by dashing out of the house: "I didn't know where to go […] Jack was really the only person who would understand. I didn't give myself a chance to change my mind. I grabbed my keys and headed out the door" (21.56-57). Nikki makes this decision in a flash and doesn't look back, which tells us volumes about her decision-making process. For all the time we spend inside her head, sometimes she kind of, well, loses her head and just acts.

Clothing

How the people in Everneath dress can give us some clue as to who they are. When Nikki and Jack meet Meredith's mom, here's how she looks: "She was business casual, as if she were about to leave for work at a museum. She wore a red silk scarf around her neck, and her hair was in a tight bun" (24.10). Is it just us, or does she seem a little uptight and distant based on her attire? Kind of like she might not give you the time of day if she didn't have a good reason to? That resonates with what we learn about her later, what with her being a Daughter of Persephone, and as such, someone who has little attachment to her family or this world.

In contrast, the woman Maxwell brings as a sacrifice to the Tunnels looks like she doesn't have her life together—and this might be part of the reason she agrees to go to the Everneath: "She wore a short skirt, a tight, sequined tube top that was missing every other sequin, and an overcoat that was a few sizes too big, as if it were made for a man" (14.36). Does she look like maybe she hasn't had the easiest or best life? Yeah… and that life comes to an abrupt end when she vanishes into the Everneath.

Interestingly, in both of these examples, the characters clothes clue us into how disconnected they are from the world immediately around them. Are there characters whose clothes clue us into how connected they are to their lives? Just something to think about.

Family Life

We know that even though Nikki's flawed, she has a good heart because she cares about her family. Part of the reason she chooses to Return is, as she tells Cole, "I came back to see my family again […] At least this time I can leave them a note, so they don't waste their time thinking I was kidnapped or something" (3.81). This shows she really cares about them. She may have left them behind impulsively, but she's come to rue that decision. In this way, her family clues us into the fact that Nikki is capable of being self-critical and trying to make amends.

Similarly, Will has made some bad life choices—hey there, alcohol—but he cares about his brother, Jack, and this lets us know that there's more than meets the eye with Will. When he helps Jack track down Mary in an effort to figure out a way to save Nikki, we know that Will may be troubled, but he's also good.

Will helps by asking around about Mary's locations, and then when they get a ping, Jack tells Nikki: "Will has an army buddy who's doing security work on the side, and he got the address […] Will's driving to Idaho to pick her up right now" (27.60). When push comes to shove, then, Will does everything he can to help. Does he struggle? Yes. But his heart is majorly in the right place.