The Ocean at the End of the Lane Characters

The unnamed narrator is seven at the time the main plot takes place; he tells the story of what happened from the perspective of an adult in his forties or fifties. As a child, the… read analysis of The Narrator

Lettie is an 11-year-old girl who lives down the lane from the narrator. She’s the narrator’s first friend, Ginnie’s daughter, and Old Mrs. Hempstock’s granddaughter. Since she’s four years older than the… read analysis of Lettie Hempstock

Ursula is a supernatural creature and the novel’s antagonist. Though Old Mrs. Hempstock never explains exactly what Ursula is, she refers to creatures like Ursula as “fleas”—that is, creatures who caught rides on the Hempstocks’… read analysis of Ursula Monkton / Skarthatch of the Keep

Old Mrs. Hempstock is Lettie’s grandmother and Ginnie’s mother. She’s an ancient, thin woman with long gray hair. According to Lettie, Old Mrs. Hempstock knows everything and is the only person who does… read analysis of Old Mrs. Hempstock

The narrator and his younger sister’s father is a rather mysterious figure in the novel, as the narrator knows little about who his father really is or what he does. He works in town… read analysis of The Narrator’s Father

The hunger birds are huge, predatory, bird-like creatures that act as the vultures of the supernatural universe that the Hempstocks inhabit. They mostly eat “fleas,” or monsters, but they can and will eat anything—including the… read analysis of The Hunger Birds

The opal miner is a South African man who made his fortune mining opals in Australia. He comes to England and rents the narrator’s bedroom; his reason for coming to England is never… read analysis of The Opal Miner

The narrator and his younger sister’s mother is a rather vague character in the book—given the narrator’s lack of interest in adults as a whole, he describes his mother only in broad strokes. Like… read analysis of The Narrator’s Mother

The narrator’s five-year-old sister is mostly unaware of the supernatural events going on around her, and she doesn’t identify anything that happens as nefarious. She and the narrator fight constantly, especially once the narrator… read analysis of The Narrator’s Sister

Ocean is the black kitten with a white ear that the narrator plucks from the ground in Lettie’s bizarre parallel universe. She’s named after Lettie’s “ocean,” the mysterious pond behind the Hempstocks’… read analysis of Ocean

Monster is the mean orange tomcat that the opal miner gives the narrator to replace his kitten, Fluffy, after she’s hit and killed by the opal miner’s taxi. Given that Fluffy was a symbol… read analysis of Monster