Character Analysis
Ellis
Ellis is the D ward attendant who replaces Hobbs. And nobody liked Hobbs.
Ellis a lot like Hobbs, in that he distances himself from patients and carries himself with the air that he's better than they are. But the patients can tell he hides his crazy the same way Hobbs did. He looks down on the patients for openly wearing their crazy on their sleeves, while he's better at hiding his. Hobbs was the same way, and the patients hated him for it.
Soon, the patients start hating Ellis, too. Deborah calls him "Hobbs Leviathan" as a poor joke, and she wonders if Ellis will kill himself, too. But with the help of an attendant named McPherson, Deborah is able to realize that everyone has his or her pain, and everyone deals with it differently. She stops making fun of him. Ellis even starts to tutor Deborah in Greek.
Ellis gives Deborah the opportunity to develop empathy and loosen up her own prejudices. We've all probably been guilty of hating on a new kid, only to learn later he or she is pretty cool after all. Deborah's no different.
Dr. Halle
This D ward doctor cleans Deborah's cigarette burns on her arms. Deborah is so grateful for his gentle manner that she feels she should give him a gift. She decides to tell him that because he only touched her for a short time, he won't be poisoned by her. Then she tells him she has trouble seeing.
It's pretty sad that Deborah considers these revelations as gifts, but hey, she's convinced she's poisonous. In her very troubled mind, she's saving this dude's life, and that's a big deal.
Yr punishes Deborah harshly for sharing secrets with Dr. Halle. The punishment ends with an epic freak-out that lands her in a mighty long cold-sheet pack.
Near the end of the novel, Dr. Halle is the one on duty when Carla and Deborah are questioned about their escape from the hospital. All the girls did was run around in the rain laughing, but they were gone until midnight, and they walked far beyond where they were allowed to go. Dr. Halle goes lightly on the girls and tries to stifle his smiles. He seems like he is actually happy that they had fun, and he even says that he's "kind of proud" of them because they had shared fun and came back (26.53).
Dude's a good guy who sees the patients as people instead of just walking illnesses.
Dr. Hill
Deborah calls this doctor just "New Doctor" for a few chapters before we learn his name.
He treats Deborah's burn wounds with great care and is compassionate. He is concerned when he learns about how roughly Dr. Venner treated Deborah's wounds earlier. It makes Deborah feel justified in being upset by how Venner dismissed her as just another crazy nut-job.
Dr. Hill plays a small part in showing Deborah that there really are nice people in the world who care about her.
Hobbs
This attendant in the D ward is often cruel, sarcastic and rude to patients. He's not exactly Mr. Congeniality.
Deborah even witnesses him smacking a patient while she's wrapped in a cold-sheet pack. That's bad.
The patients tease Hobbs relentlessly because they can see that he is afraid of the craziness inside of him. This, they know, is what makes him treat the patients with such condescension and disrespect.
And it turns out they're right: Hobbs eventually gasses himself to death in his apartment. To Deborah, he represents the way some people want to judge her for being crazy while not facing up to their own demons. Hypocrisy is a form of lying, and Deborah can't stand lying, so she can't stand Hobbs.
McPherson
McPherson is everyone's favorite attendant in D ward. He's the kindest and most compassionate of all the attendants we meet. He routinely communicates with an honest and direct manner with Deborah and the other patients, and unlike Hobbs, he doesn't condescend to any of them.
McPherson also doesn't pity the patients. He gets Deborah to be less self-absorbed by showing her that the members of the hospital staff also have problems, and that Deborah hasn't cornered the market on suffering.
Imagine that—treating the mentally ill just like regular normal people. What a novel idea.
Mrs. Forbes
Mrs. Forbes is a compassionate nurse; Deborah and all of the ward members like her. She loves her job and is patient, and everyone knows it.
When Deborah has her ultimate mental volcanic eruption meltdown, Mrs. Forbes figures out the Yri words for anger and hate and puts Deborah in seclusion and then a cold-sheet pack. Deborah knew subconsciously that the best time to freak out would be when Mrs. Forbes was on duty to help her.
Quentin Dobshansky
This dude's a new attendant in D ward who reminds Deborah of McPherson in his manner and kindness.
After Deborah leaves the hospital, rents a room, and then returns to the hospital, it's Quentin who tends to her ice pack after another Yri-Earth collision episode. He's kind and compassionate with her, but he's also disappointed that she lands back in D ward after being out in the world. He wants her to make it. He's rooting for her.
It's about time Deborah had another cheerleader.
Quentin also feels sympathy for Deborah because he's been ridiculed for his looks and understands what it's like to feel that you're an outcast.
He's also the first person Deborah finds herself having a crush on. Mmhmm.
Dr. Raynor
This guy is Dr. Fried's replacement while she's on a two-and-a-half-month vacation.
Deborah names him "Snake Tooth" because his manner reminds her of the evil sound of a snake's rattle in the dry air of summer. He tries to get her to answer questions about Yr's language, and he makes her feel like he's pulling her teeth out one by one.
Yeah, she doesn't really like the guy.
Dr. Venner
Deborah doesn't like this D ward doctor, because he always seems to look off in the distance, away from the patients. And who could blame her? Have you ever tried to talk to someone who never makes eye contact? It's a little spooky.
Deborah nicknames Dr. Venner "Lost Horizons" because of his wandering gaze. When he attends to Deborah's burn wounds, he's very rough, he curses, and he presses so hard on the damaged skin that it bleeds.
So he won't look at you like a real person, he's mean to sick people who are hurt, and he's rough. He almost dehumanizes Deborah—it's as if he has to keep his distance to prove he's better than the crazies he has to deal with.
Have you considered an alternative career, Doc?