Line #9 Characters/TheBlindAssassin


1	The characters of ''The Blind Assassin'', a 2000 novel by Margaret Atwood.
2
3	!!!Iris Chase-Griffen
4	The main character and narrator.
5
6	* ArrangedMarriage: She was 18 when married to the 35 year old Richard.
7	* TheBabyTrap: Averted. [[spoiler:Alex Thomas asks her to leave her husband before he even learns she is pregnant by him. And because she is pregnant, she feels she must stay with Richard at least until she can leave.]]
8	* ConsummateLiar: She becomes extremely good at this.
9	* DeadpanSnarker: As an old woman, she grows into this, but even as a young woman she tended towards concise, sharp remarks. When a man exposes himself to her, she looks at him calmly and says:
10	-->'''Iris''': I'm sorry. I'm just not interested.
11	* DumbBlonde: She takes advantage of this stereotype while young and pretty. As the reader sees her internal monologue, she is quite shrewd, practical, and a shameless, if not perfect, liar.
12	* NervesOfSteel: When Winifred asks why Aimee is darkhaired when her parents are blonde, Iris--having just come out of an ''ether-induced slumber''--first apologizes for it not being a boy, then begins a casual ramble on how only her mother's side of the family was blonde and the rest of it was darkhaired, until Winifred and Richard are too bored to listen. Later, Iris notes that this would never have worked after the knowledge of recessive genes was widespread.
13	* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: Iris takes refuge in this as she ages, having been a trophy wife constrained to politeness in her prime.
14	* SmokingIsGlamorous: She filched her father's cigarettes at least before she was eighteen as an act of rebellion. Even Laura disapproves of it.
15	* SympatheticAdulterer: She has a ten-year affair with [[spoiler:Alex Thomas]] that results in her only child Aimee. Given Richard's [[DomesticAbuse behavior]] towards her [[spoiler: and her sister]], one can hardly blame her.
16	* PassiveAggressiveKombat: She becomes a decent user of this, but still fails to keep her child and grandchild from falling into Winifred's clutches.
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18	!!!Laura Chase
19	Iris' younger sister by four years.
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21	* CelibateHero: From a young age, she has devoted her life to serving God, as far as anyone including Iris can tell. This includes a self-imposed vow of chastity.
22	* TheOphelia: Laura is intensely spiritual and seen as a little bit crazy by the conservative, wealthy social circle. However, when Laura gets a job with normal people to prove she can survive in the real world, she does perfectly fine.
23	* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: She insists she has absolutely no romantic interest in Alex Thomas, and that she only spends time with him because he is a poor orphan who needs help. Iris is unsure of this herself [[spoiler:until she learns from an incredibly cryptic suicide note that the only person Laura had ever had sex with was Richard, who forced it on her, and then forced her to have an abortion]].
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25	!!!Alex Thomas
26	A young man with no parents, who never seems to be quite on anyone's side.
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28	* KnightInSourArmor: Despite sleeping around a lot, he resents being accused of trying to seduce Laura, who was fourteen years old when he met her and "a saint in training."
29	* TwoFirstNames
30	* VagueAge: He is younger than Richard but still a bit older than Iris, at least.
31	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Judging from The Blind Assassin, at least. Alex goes from "You shouldn't worship me, you'll probably find someone else" to [[spoiler:asking Iris to leave Richard]].

Context Characters / TheBlindAssassin