Character Analysis

Norma is Jack's elder step-sister, who he has a crush on and who may be one of the reasons he's okay moving in with Dwight:

I was tempted by the idea of belonging to a conventional family, and living in a house, and having a big brother and a couple of sisters—especially if one of those sisters was Norma. (10.11)

Naturally, Norma has the hots for someone else, and like Dwight's other children, is pretty much powerless to stop Dwight's abuse. She doesn't make any bones about her plans:

'One more year and then watch my dust.' (8.29)

And, like so many other people in the book, she never really escapes. She just gets married to the wrong guy, who makes her "pale and angular, all her lazy lushness gone." (17.32) Nobody gets away clean from Chinook. Not even the cute redheads.