Wonderstruck

Rose is the other protagonist of the novel, whose childhood story, set in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1927, is told in the novel’s illustrations. Rose is deaf and mute, and she struggles to find love or understanding from her family. Rose runs away to New York City to find her mother, a famous movie star and Broadway actress named Lillian Mayhew. Her mother rejects her requests for help, and instead, Rose finds solace in her brother Walter and the American Museum of Natural History. After being rescued by Walter, Rose attends a boarding school for deaf children, where she meets her future husband, Bill Lobel. She and Bill raise Danny—Bill becomes a printer, and Rose and Danny work as exhibitors at the American Museum of Natural History.

Like Ben, Rose is forgiving of those who did not understand her disability, or her needs as a child. She acknowledges the complicated nature of her parents’ relationship, and her mother’s love. She is also immediately welcoming of Ben, who is her last living family member, other than Walter. When Rose and Ben are finally united, there is a sense of belonging not only because they are family, but because they share a disability and way of experiencing the world. 

Elaine Wilson is Ben’s mother. She is dead when the novel begins, but we learn about her through Ben’s memories of her, as well as Rose’s secondhand account of her personality. Elaine dies in a car accident, but before her death, she was a loving mother and independent woman. Rose recalls how Elaine’s lover, Danny, spoke of Elaine: “He used the word ‘radical’ to describe [your mother], meaning, I think, that she lived completely on her own terms, and he loved that about her” (571). Elaine is a librarian and is passionate about books and learning. She encourages Ben to answer his own questions and is largely the reason why he is able to solve the mystery of his parentage and find his grandmother. 

Jamie finds Ben on the street and again in the American Museum of Natural History, where his father works. Jamie takes Ben under his wing, giving him food and a place to sleep, and showing him the ins and outs of the museum. He also helps Ben learn the basics of American sign language. Jamie sometimes acts selfishly, choosing to keep information from Ben about Kincaid’s Book because of his fear of losing his new friend. Jamie feels lonely because his parents are divorced, and his father spends little time with him during the summer months, when Jamie lives in New York City. Jamie is curious and creative—he takes Polaroid photographs and is equally interested in Ben’s collections in his Museum box. He redeems himself at the end of the novel when he tracks Ben down to apologize. 

Walter is Rose’s older brother. He is not a particularly well-developed character, other than his generosity and love for his sister. Walter works at the Museum of Natural History and rescues his sister from his father’s unhappy home in Hoboken when she runs away. He encourages his mother and father to send Rose to boarding school, where she can meet other deaf children and make friends. Walter also gives Rose the book, Wonderstruck, that sets the plot in motion. He is kind, sensitive to the needs of others, and a lover of books. 

Daniel Lobel, or Danny, is Ben’s father and Rose’s son. He falls in love with Elaine while visiting Gunflint Lake on a research trip for the American Museum of Natural History. The Gunflint Lake wolf diorama is his first and only project with the museum. After returning home, he died of a congenital heart condition. Rose believes Danny didn’t know about Ben; Danny was aware that Elaine had no interest in a husband or long-term lover. Danny was a talented artist, curator, and a loving man. Rose mourns him deeply, many years after his death.

Janet is Ben’s older cousin. She looks remarkably like his mother, Elaine, and Aunt Jenny. Janet is the only person in the family that openly grieves Elaine, and Ben finds solace in her company. Janet also helps Ben escape to New York City, though she isn’t aware that he is planning to run away when she brings him a suitcase full of his belongings. 

Lillian Mayhew is Rose’s mother, and Ben’s great-grandmother. She is a famous actress. When the novel begins, we don’t know about her connection to Rose—only that Rose is obsessed with her and has a scrapbook of her newspaper clippings and film posters. Rose finds Lillian in New York City, and Lillian is enraged that her daughter would disturb her Broadway rehearsal. She locks Rose in a room to bring her back home, though Rose escapes to find Walter. Lillian is not a particularly loving or supportive mother, but Rose forgives her for her neglect. She was only 17 when she married and had her first child, and always had aspirations of being on stage. She was also a divorcee, which came with its own struggles and social stigmas in the 1920s.