I) The title of the chapter of Let the Great World Spin about Claire is “Miró, Miró, on the Wall.” This is a reference Joan Miró (1893-1983) the modern Spanish surrealist painter, and the famous line: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” from the fairy tale Snow White. Later, Claire references this line again on page 112 saying: “Miró, Miró, on the wall, who is the deadest of them all?” The title of the chapter is a reference to Claire’s status as a well-off modern woman with a house full of exquisite art, who is grieving over her dead son to the point of feeling dead herself.
II) The Major Characters in Let the Great World Spin:
- Corrigan
- Ciaran
- Tillie
- Jazzlyn
- Lara
- Blaine
- Solomon
- Claire
- Gloria, and other bereaved mothers
- Fernando
- Sam, and other computer hackers
- Philippe
- Adelita
Here is a diagram of all the connections between named characters in Let the Great World Spin so far. I counted 74 connections total.
Gloria is a quiet character in the first half of Let the Great World Spin. She interacts with many major characters, but has yet to come to the forefront.
Diagram of all the intersections between Gloria and other characters in Let the Great World Spin.
When Tillie is in jail, Gloria brings Tillie’s grandchildren, Janice and little Jazzlyn to visit her. Tillie recognizes Gloria from the projects, but she doesn’t even know her name.
Despite not knowing Tillie and Jazzlyn well, Gloria took Janice and little Jazzlyn in after their mother’s death and lives with them in a house in Poughkeepsie.
Why did Gloria take in Jazzlyn’s children? Why did she take them to visit Tillie? She was uninvolved with Tillie and Jazzlyn before the car accident. She could have stayed uninvolved.
Gloria is a powerful character. She steps in to help Janice and little Jazzlyn when they were forgotten. Yet, all we really know about her is that she lost three sons to the war, and that she wears flowered dresses. Who is Gloria?
Sources: https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/joan-miro
Looking at the chart that you made of the connections, it’s really awe inspiring. Reading the book is one thing, and seeing every single connection made on paper is a whole other giant completely.
Reading this post made me wonder about Gloria as well. You make her seem to be an overarching figure, while also pointing out that very little is known about her. I am curious to see how she fits in to this book at the end.
While looking through all the blog posts yours stood out from the rest because of your charts filled with all the connections found in the book, and it’s actually pretty amazing and cool seeing a visual representation of them. It goes to show how much of a lively world McCann has created and also how relevant to us it is. I’m sure if our connections with people were laid out, it would be very similar to those charts.
The effort you put into your character connection chart is much appreciated! I’m just as curious as you to find out more about Gloria’s character. I want to know why she took Jazzlyn’s children as well, and I too feel intrigued by her character.
Amazing character chat. So much detail. It definitely helped me clear out some slight confusion while looking back at some intersections and trying to remember them.