59 pages • 1 hour read
Drew MagaryThe Postmortal
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
John Farrell
John Farrell is the novel’s first-person narrator. He conveys his personal experiences through a series of blog posts, which are then supported with news articles, interviews, and headlines. John never describes himself within the text; the only physical characteristic shared is that he is not muscular, and this detail is only given when he describes seeing David as an adult for the first time.
John begins the novel as a highly logical individual. His first impulsive move is to get the cure in the first place, going to a doctor who provides it for those who can afford it before its official legalization. John notes that this decision is unlike him, and he continues to prove that this impulse was an oddity as he goes through the next two decades of life. He tries to convince his family members to get the cure, wanting more time with them and wanting them to know the security of being postmortal. As time passes and he becomes exposed to more traumatic events, John’s logical self regresses into someone much more emotional and instinctual. The trauma he carries manifests in impulsive behavior, nightmares, and insomnia; however, he does not address his experiences, instead burying his trauma in work and obsession.
John also begins the novel lacking deep emotional connectivity. While it is unquestionable that he loves the people around him, he holds himself back in most of his extra-familial relationships. Sonia provides the clearest example of this, as her requests for marriage are rejected on the basis that John does not think that is an appropriate way to express love. As the novel progresses, he becomes increasingly comfortable with emotional intimacy. The novel’s close sees John marrying a woman he has only known for a day, showing a desire for human connection that he did not display earlier in his life. This shows his ultimate desire for community and his growth away from self-centeredness and into something beyond himself.
David Farrell
David Farrell is John’s son. A devout member of the Church of Man, he is described as a muscular and talented basketball player. He is repeatedly said to look like John, but no descriptions of physical characteristics are provided. He is born via cesarian section after a long labor, and he dies in a bombing with his mother, stepfather, and unborn sibling. He is so well respected within the church that after his death, church members intercede on John’s behalf, even saving Solara’s life at his request.
David is a foil to John, meant to act as a contrasting force to John’s isolation and outlook. David worships humanity and believes violence is a great sin. He has found a deep connection with other people, as manifested in the community he has both in and out of the church. Although he encourages John to find religion with him, he does not force his father into anything. This passive hope, emotional connectivity, and faith are all factors that John lacks before he is mortally injured. David’s loss sends John into a spiral, but his memory leads John to ultimately change his worldview.
Alison
Alison is John’s first love, and they nearly get married. The two met when they were in middle school and struck up a friendship despite John’s attraction to her. After the cure, they reconnect in an intense romance. Alison has brown hair and a “natural beauty” (135). She believes herself to be bad luck, an assertion that John rejects. Their relationship ends when she witnesses him beat a Greenie with his gun, and she flees into oncoming traffic.
John is critical of their relationship after Alison’s death. Alison becomes an ideal, martyred in his mind by his own decisions. His blame for her death places her in an untouchable space in his mind, the perfect partner that he ruined in his quest for vengeance. He flees his home after her passing, engaging in a decades-long off-screen journey that culminates in him becoming an end specialist. Alison’s loss disrupts his happy ending, tearing him away from his loved ones and beginning his descent into loneliness. Life with Alison represents community, home, and family; without her, he becomes a loner until his financial situation drives him to return to public life. The manner of her death, paired with the unachieved potential of their relationship, results in John’s inability to heal. The trauma of her passing wears on John, manifesting in symptoms like insomnia and an inability to connect with others. In some ways, John’s lack of community can be seen as a self-inflicted punishment for her death, even as he eventually acknowledges that their relationship likely would have soured over time. Alison also represents Death’s Inevitability, as she is not kept safe by the cure.
Solara Beck
Solara Beck is a beautiful blonde woman to whom John is immediately drawn. He encounters her for the first time the day he receives the cure in the elevator at his doctor’s office. He sees her a second time when walking Katy to get her initial consultation, and his pursuit of her prevents him from being killed by the bomb that kills Katy. Following the bombing, he spends the next several decades thinking about her and tracking her, believing her to be complicit in the explosion. She is declared an enemy of the United States, and he ultimately tracks her down to fulfill a bounty. However, he discovers that she experienced abuse and was compelled to scout for information the day Katy died. She and John experience a whirlwind romance as he saves her life following the nuclear explosions at the end of the novel, marrying her and securing medical care for her and her unborn child.
Solara embodies desire. At the novel’s beginning, John sexually desires her; he sees her presence in the elevator as confirmation that he should get the cure, and he leaves Katy alone to pursue her. Later, that desire turns more sinister when he wants revenge for Katy’s death and believes Solara to be involved. In the novel’s final part, that desire once again becomes romantic, this time focusing on connectivity and love rather than only physical attraction. John sees the future in Solara, both in her unborn child and their relationship’s potential. By insisting that she receive medical care and continue living, he asserts his desire for the future of mankind and legacy rather than personal longevity.
Ernie
Ernie is the end specialist who pairs with John while working for Matt. He is described as a “muscular bald fellow with a black goatee” (183). He is proficient with firearms and is very good at reading situations, determining the best possible decisions to get out alive. He has a lax attitude about being an end specialist, frequently citing his wife and children as his inspiration for performing the job. He goes along with the jobs Matt assigns, including legalized murder of the elderly. This perspective stems from a combination of nihilism about his own future and his desire to protect his loved ones. It is assumed that Ernie dies during the first nuclear blast at the novel’s conclusion.
Ernie acts as a sounding board for John as he processes his moral stance on end specialization and the world’s tragedies. Ernie is stalwart in his beliefs, made so by his need to defend his family; John has no family to protect and is thus freer to shift his ideologies, thinking through whether end specialization will alter him and debating his role in the larger ecosystem of humanity. With Ernie, John learns the tools of the trade and learns vital self-defense skills that will later empower him to save Solara. Ernie is the only person who actively tries to teach John things and protect him from physical harm. Ernie’s interventions ensure John’s survival, fostering John’s growth and development. Ernie’s final act is to grant John freedom, agreeing to pretend that John overtook him by force so that John may pursue his dreams.
