Postcards: Analysis of Major Characters
"Postcards: Analysis of Major Characters" examines the complex lives of the Blood family and their interactions with various figures in their community, primarily through the character Loyal Blood. Loyal, a troubled young farmer in Vermont, faces the consequences of a tragic incident involving his girlfriend, Billy, which leads him to abandon his family and embark on a life of wandering and hard labor across the country. His journey is marked by hardships, including injuries, loss of property, and the struggle for personal connections, particularly with women, as he grapples with his past.
The overview also highlights his family members: Jewell Blood, his mother, who finds newfound independence after her husband’s demise, and Dub, his brother, who battles addiction and ultimately finds success in real estate. Mernelle, Loyal’s sister, seeks escape through love but faces challenges of her own. Other significant characters include Jack and Starr Sagine, who provide Loyal with friendship and a sense of belonging, and Dr. Franklin Witkin, who unwittingly connects the past to the present through his discovery on the Blood property. Through these character analyses, readers are invited to explore themes of loss, redemption, and the search for identity within a fractured family narrative.
Postcards: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Annie Proulx
First published: 1992
Genre: Novel
Locale: Vermont; Florida; Western United States
Plot: Family drama
Time: Early 1940s-1980s
Loyal Blood, is a twentysomething farmer in Cream Hill, Vermont, who abandons his parents (Mink and Jewell) and siblings (Dub, a younger, handicapped brother, and Mernelle, a younger sister) after killing his girlfriend, Billy. It is unclear if her death is a homicide or an accident, but he hides her body and informs his family that he and Billy are heading West together that night and to inform her parents of their departure. For the remainder of his life he becomes a drifter wandering across the country, never returning home. He lives a life of hard labor and low pay, toiling as a factory worker, a miner, fur trapper, and farmer. He is trapped for several days in a mine collapse that kills his companions and later his car is swept up by a tornado, but Loyal survives. He is robbed of nearly all his savings by a hitchhiker. Loyal pinballs from place to place, working a series of disparate jobs and interacting with several landowners with whom he becomes friends. For many seasons he assists an amateur astronomer and later partners with a man who digs dinosaur fossils. He tries settling down and buys a small house in North Dakota and raises chickens, but the property and his livestock are destroyed by a fire. His lone companion is a dog named Little Girl. Loyal mails a stream of postcards that he has stolen to his family, not knowing that one by one they have either died or left home and that the farm failed and the property was broken into parcels and sold. After Billy's death he fondles a woman in a bar but has a seizure and faints. Afterwards, he avoids women, living a celibate existence. Loyal develops romantic feelings for Starr Sagine, the wife of a man whose property he traps on, but after her husband's sudden death Loyal rejects the possibility of a relationship with her.
Jewell Blood, is Loyal's mother. She is unhappily married to Minkton (“Mink”), a farmer in Cream Hill, Vermont. Besides Loyal, her firstborn, she is the mother of Marvin (called Dub) and Mernelle. After Loyal departs, Jewell helps with crops but refuses to milk cows or perform barn work, which she believes is for men. Mink and Dub both are incarcerated after burning down their barn and killing the livestock for insurance money. Mink commits suicide in jail, giving Jewell the opportunity for happiness. She learns to drive and starts several small businesses knitting sweaters, caps, socks, and other woolens for sale, as well as baking and putting up preserves, which she also sells. Her life blossoms after shucking the yoke of her family. She divides the farm property into smaller parcels, selling the majority of the land while keeping a small lot for herself to live on. She eventually saves enough money for a car, which she drives throughout New England. She dies of an aneurism while trying to free the vehicle after driving over a large rock on an abandoned logging road during a snowstorm. State police find the car, but her body is never recovered.
Marvin Blood, known as Dub, is the second son of Mink and Jewell and Loyal's handicapped young brother. Dub is lazy and a heavy drinker. Several times he leaves the family to ride the rails as a hobo but pays a high price by losing an arm in an accident with a train. He works the farm with his father and brother but desires to marry a woman named Myrtle and move away. His handicap makes it impossible to find work. Dub is angry with his father while also craving the man's affection. Dub is sent to prison after he assists his father in burning down the barn and killing the livestock for insurance money after the animals contract a disease. Dub relocates to Florida after his parole and begins a scam with a man named Yarra, but soon abandons the criminal life to attend real estate school. Dub excels in real estate, becoming wealthy and successful. He brokers parcels of cheap land in central Florida, which he sells to the Walt Disney Company as the future site of Disney World. He marries an expatriate Cuban woman named Pala Suarez, who shares Dub's zeal and talent for real estate.
Mernelle Blood MacWay, is the youngest child and only girl in the Blood family. After her father and brothers are gone, she endeavors to help her mother with the farm but dislikes it. She answers a lonely-hearts ad in a newspaper, The Trumpet, from 19-year-old Robert “Ray” MacWay, who she falls in love with and marries. The Trumpet funds their honeymoon in exchange for publicity. Her mother privately gives Mernelle $200 from the sale of the family property, advising her daughter to stow it away secretly for the future, but Mernelle immediately tells Ray about the money. Mernelle and Ray are happy in their marriage but she is unable to get pregnant and they remain childless.
Dr. Franklin Witkin, is a Boston physician who buys a parcel of Blood property from Jewell. He builds a makeshift hunting lodge for his family and half-brother Larry, who frequently visits and helps with the construction of a cabin and other edifices on the land. While landscaping on the property, Witkin unearths Billy's partial skeleton but reburies it, believing the remains to be that of an Indian or early settler.
Jack and Starr Sagine, are cattle ranchers who befriend Loyal Blood after allowing him to trap for furs on their property. Loyal returns to their ranch for many seasons to trap and always is warmly welcomed. Starr become the first and only true female friend he has throughout his life, and he secretly harbors sexual desire for her. However, when Jack dies unexpectedly after a mysterious bout of hiccoughs, Starr fails to pursue a romantic relationship with Loyal.
Jase Shears, is the son of a neighboring farmer who gives Loyal a puppy who he names Little Girl. Jase is a Vietnam veteran suffering post-traumatic stress and can barely speak or interact with others. Loyal hires him to work on his small chicken farm, which acts as therapy for the young man, helping him to recover from his combat experiences. He and Loyal become friends.
Bullet Wulff, is a man who hires Loyal to help him dig dinosaur fossils.
Ben and Vernita Rainwater, are an amateur astronomer and jellyfish biologist, respectively. Loyal becomes friends with Ben, a heavy drinker, whom he helps build an observatory. When Ben becomes sick, Vernita and her children order Loyal to leave.