It's Not the End of the World

Ellie is a stay-at-home mom and the mother of Karen, Amy, and Jeff. Ellie married Bill when she was 19 and dropped out of college. As a result, she doesn’t really know what she wants out of her life or career. She dreams of finishing her degree in English literature and exploring what she’s capable of intellectually. Through her, Blume highlights the Relationship Between Gender Roles and Divorce, as Ellie is both liberated from patriarchally-dictated gender roles in the divorce but also expected to be the primary caregiver for the children. She gets a job as a receptionist during the story to help support the kids while she goes through her divorce with Bill.

Ellie can be bitter and confrontational. She and Bill fight frequently, and she accuses him of valuing the store over his own family. She can resort to violence and name-calling, such as throwing a cake at Bill and calling him a “bastard.” Sometimes, she is selfish, as she flippantly considers moving the kids to Florida without considering what they want or need. She seems intent on getting back at Bill and uses the kids as proxies in her conflict with him. She is therefore a round character who is both a victim and culprit in the conflict with Bill, which reflects contemporary ideas that divorce may not be the fault of one party but of both.

Bill accuses her of being too dependent on her sister and never making any decisions for herself. He blames her and her inability to grow up for not knowing what she wants. Blume implies that such dynamics are a result of patriarchal structures in marriage, as Bill rarely let Ellie make decisions. Over the course of the novel, Ellie begins to assert herself more and more and investigate what she wants out of life. She stands up to Ruth’s efforts to get her out on the dating market.

Karen’s father, Bill, runs a furniture store selling modern furniture. He inherited the store from his father, Garfa, and frequently works late. Ellie accuses him of caring more about the store than his own family. This dynamic represents the problems with patriarchal structures in marriage, as each side of the couple has been isolated from the other.

Bill can be angry and confrontational. He quickly resorts to name-calling with Ellie, criticizes her harshly, and invalidates her feelings. It becomes clear that Bill always bossed Ellie around and rarely respected her opinion. At the beginning of the novel, Bill criticizes a cake Ellie made, leading her to smash it on the ground.

Despite this, Karen wants her father around and feels devastated when he moves out of the house. Bill can also be a loving and attentive father. He comforts Amy and takes her to bed when she’s upset. He takes the kids out for dinner and hosts them in his apartment. Jeff is impressed by his new place and looks up to his father as an emblem of masculinity.

Jeff is Karen’s 14-year-old brother. Jeff is often portrayed as sullen and temperamental, disappearing into his “hideaway” to listen to records, lift weights, hang out with his sullen friend Petey, or talk to his girlfriend Mary Louise on the phone. He constantly brushes off his little siblings and treats them with disdain. Despite his teenage exterior, Jeff can be warm and supportive when his siblings really need him. When Karen breaks down, needing to talk to someone about her feelings, Jeff listens to her and explains what’s going on to the best of his ability.

Despite his standoffish exterior, Jeff is profoundly affected by his parents’ divorce. Eventually, Jeff’s feelings spill over. He lashes out at his mother over a seemingly small comment and storms out. His tendency to withdraw from life reaches a new dimension as he runs away from home. Karen sees his true vulnerability when he finally comes home and breaks down in his mother’s arms. The softness under his tough exterior highlights The Impact of Divorce on Children.

Amy is Karen’s six-year-old younger sister. At the beginning of the novel, Amy is energetic and talkative, telling riddles and enjoying attention from her family. As Bill and Ellie devolve into more conflict, Amy becomes increasingly prickly and stops telling riddles. She becomes more selfish and whines, seeking attention from her father in particular. Karen partly uses Amy to measure the emotional temperature of her family, making Amy a key representative of The Impact of Divorce on Children.

Karen suspects that Bill favors Amy and notices how he lavishes attention on her. She uses her favored relationship with Bill to get Ellie to do what she wants. When Ellie refuses to buy her a toy, she claims that Bill would buy it for her. She exaggerates to Bill about the way Ellie leaves them home alone in an attempt to elicit more sympathy from her father. Despite her spoiled and sometimes entitled behavior, Amy also suffers deeply from the breakdown of her parents’ marriage and loses touch with her joyful, kid-like affect.

Aunt Ruth is Ellie’s older sister by 10 years. Because of the age gap, Ruth behaves almost like a mother to Ellie, giving her advice and sometimes overstepping and telling her what to do. When Bill moves out of the house, Aunt Ruth and Uncle Dan step up to help Ellie out. They take the kids out to dinner regularly and help with childcare. Aunt Ruth also counsels Ellie throughout the divorce process, taking her side against Bill and supporting her emotionally. They represent the wider community affected by and involved in divorce.

As Ellie and Bill fight, Karen learns more about the nuances of Ellie’s relationship with Ruth. Bill accuses her of failing to grow up and relying on Ruth to make all decisions. Karen notices when Ellie stands up to Aunt Ruth and makes her own decision for the first time. Karen also learns that Aunt Ruth never liked Bill and saw him as conceited.

Garfa is Karen’s grandfather and Bill’s father. He started the furniture store where Bill works and retired to Las Vegas. His store therefore represents the values that Garfa tries to pass down to the next generation, including his views that people should not divorce. Garfa never got divorced and notes that nobody in the Newman family has ever gotten divorced before. He tries to encourage Bill and Ellie to work out their problems. He even offers to fund a vacation for them to get away and work on their marriage. He gives Karen special attention, commenting on how much she looks like his late wife, Grandma Newman.

He and Karen commiserate about their efforts to get Bill and Ellie back together and must both accept that their efforts fail. Garfa is kind and generous to Karen, agreeing to read her divorce book so he can understand how she feels. While he is a minor character, he therefore develops like Karen does.

Debbie is Karen’s best friend. Though they spend a lot of time together at school, Debbie’s mom overcommits her to many activities and Karen doesn’t get to see her after school. Blume hence subtly includes the problems occurring in other households, as Debbie is implicitly characterized as a pressured daughter.

Debbie has a crush on Jeff, which causes Karen to feel possessive of Debbie. Karen desperately wants to talk to Debbie about her feelings but has trouble getting started. When Debbie finds out about the divorce from other sources, Karen lashes out at her. Despite these moments of conflict, Debbie is still a thoughtful and loyal friend. She checks in on Karen when she stays home sick and offers to make monkey faces to cheer her up. At the end of the novel, she takes photos of her monkey faces so Karen can look at them even when she moves away.

Gary Owens is a boy from Karen’s class at school. Karen has a crush on him but doesn’t have the confidence to tell him. Partway through the novel, Gary Owens moves to Houston. Karen regrets that she didn’t have the chance to talk to him more or see if he liked her. This minor subplot reinforces Karen’s coming-of-age narrative as she begins to become interested in boys. Later, the class writes him a letter and asks about his life in Houston. She suggests Houston as a place where her mom could move the family.

Mrs. Singer is Karen’s teacher at school. Mrs. Singer used to be nice and beloved, but ever since she got married over the summer, she has become stricter and meaner. This subplot reinforces the novel’s suggestion that marriage is not the best course of action for people who aren’t compatible. Karen is convinced that Mrs. Singer dislikes her specifically and targets her for disciplinary action. Debbie is not sure whether Karen receives any special negative treatment. When Karen does a poor job on her book report, Mrs. Singer expresses her disappointment and gives Karen a bad grade. Karen’s relationship with Mrs. Singer therefore contributes to the characterization of Karen as sensitive. Despite this, Mrs. Singer does recognize that Karen is going through something and lets her take the Viking diorama home with her. She, like Aunt Ruth and Uncle Dan, represents minor members of a community who can help families through a divorce.

Val Lewis is a year above Karen in school and lives with her mother in the apartment complex Bill moves to after leaving Karen’s house. Val’s parents are divorced, and her mother dates a wealthy man whom she hopes to marry. Val is much more jaded about divorce and advises Karen not to get her hopes up about getting her parents back together. She represents the expedited coming-of-age that occurs as a result of trauma, as she has already transitioned to a more adult mindset. She recognizes that her father does not care about her much and makes little effort to be a part of her life. Much of her knowledge about divorce comes from a book she read about in the New York Times. Val reads the New York Times every day from start to finish. Though she says that she does not care about her Dad’s rejection, she tells Karen that she wants to become a famous scientist so that her dad will be proud to have her as his daughter; like Jeff, Blume indirectly characterizes her as someone with a tough exterior who is vulnerable underneath.

Petey Mansfield is Jeff’s friend. He comes over to the house frequently to hang out with Jeff in his bedroom/hideaway. Karen finds him unpleasantly sullen and untalkative. Petey’s younger brother Brian talks too much and Karen wonders why Petey is so different. As Jeff grows more sullen, Karen suspects that this is Petey’s influence. However, toward the end, she realizes that she would accept the idea of marrying him. Blume hence uses Petey, like Gary Owens, to present a comedic view of a young girl growing into the idea of romance. At the same time, Karen’s dislike of Petey but ideas about marrying him suggest that she is reflecting models of marriage that she has seen between incompatible people, such as her parents or her teacher.