Ragged Company

A second narrator and main character in the book, Mark “Digger” Haskett is part Metis and part white. He grew up farming scrap land and experienced parental neglect in his early years. However, he made his way through life through hard physical labor, first for a farmer—and then for Dutch the wheelman, with whom Digger traveled the country, eventually inheriting the job upon Dutch’s death. After an injury stopped Digger from working as a wheelman, he began to drink to cope with the emotional and physical pain of being unable to work and eventually landed on the streets.

Digger is tough and hardworking; he takes great pride in working to earn a living. Doing a job well is important to him, as is evident in how he enjoyed his work as a wheelman, which he was a natural at, as well as the thrill he later derives from fixing up old appliances. Digger’s industrious nature, coupled with his pride, keeps him away from begging even when he lives on the streets. He strives to earn his keep even then, collecting scrap to sell for cash and earning himself his “rounder” name through this.

Digger’s tough and self-reliant nature makes him wary and suspicious, and his boundaries are constantly up. His pride in his self-reliance makes him particularly sensitive to perceived pity and charity from other people, which is what he persistently believes the “Square Johns” feel toward him. This prevents him from taking Granite’s advice and relaxing his “rounder” mentality to talk to Dick—and causes him to lash out at Granite after Dick disappears. Digger’s character arc relates to not just returning to work that he loves but also recognizing the place of emotion and feeling in one’s life. Thus, in addition to setting up a Ferris wheel again, Digger eventually begins to help other men better their lives by passing on his skills and his stories, thus opening up and connecting with people more.

The book’s third narrator and main character is Jonas “Timber” Hohnstein. Compared to the other three “rounders,” Timber had a relatively comfortable upbringing. He grew up on a farm with parents who supported his passion and talent for carving, and he found love, married, and owned his own woodworking shop. Before his wife, Sylvan, had an accident, Timber lived a good life. However, the financial drain resulting from her post-accident care—and the memory loss she experienced because of the accident—led Timber to drink and eventually to life on the streets when he ran away from a situation he couldn’t handle anymore.

Timber is quiet, prone to thinking and reflecting. For instance, he makes insightful observations about the movies the group watches. Timber is fairly perceptive; from the moment Digger finds the letter ticket, Timber feels uncomfortable because he anticipates that things will change for the group in significant and overwhelming ways. However, he eventually adapts to the new life, especially once he deals with the issues from his past. He even points out to Digger that the “rounder” rules might not apply anymore, when Digger brings up the others’ concern about Dick. Another way Timber’s insightfulness and evolution materialize is that in Dick’s absence, he reaches an understanding of what “home” truly means.

Timber’s character arc concerns love and forgiveness. The pain that he attempts to drown in alcohol comes from the grief of losing a loved one and shame at his inability to help. It’s important for Timber to feel useful again; hence, giving Sylvan his money and returning to carving are vital to his growth. He can finally do for Sylvan what he couldn’t as a husband many decades ago, which, in addition to creating beautiful art again, rebuilds his self-worth.

The fourth narrator and main character in the story is Richard Richard “Double Dick” Dumont, who grew up in the worst circumstances of the four “rounders.” His family was impoverished, and his father brewed moonshine to make ends meet. Dick was pulled into tasting and delivering the moonshine from a young age and began drinking alcohol extremely early in life as a result. This had disastrous consequences for him, in multiple ways: His physical health was poor, and he started having alcohol-induced seizures in adolescence; in addition, he caused the accidental death of his nephew when caring for him while drunk.

Dick is childlike and naive in his approach to life. This may be partially a result of extensive alcohol use from an extremely young age, which may have affected his brain development; however, it’s also a function of his never being equipped with the skills required to “interpret” the world, as Granite asserts. He’s illiterate and can’t even perform basic arithmetic. Thus, his understanding and comprehension of the world is simplistic, and he relies heavily on friends to get through life. This, however, results in his fully realizing the value they bring to his life; despite the money he comes into, all Dick wants at the end of the day is to stay warm and well-fed, be with friends, and keep watching movies.

Dick is the only person whom the money doesn’t help during his lifetime. Digger lost his vocation and Timber his love; Dick, however, was denied a childhood and robbed of his mental and physical health because of experiences he had. Dreams of Earl’s death haunt Dick constantly in a manner reminiscent of a post-traumatic stress response. His avoidant reaction to these memories ensures that he never works through the issues in his past; he keeps looking for a way to escape them, and ultimately the only way out of the terror is out of life itself. Thus, Dick’s arc ends in his death but isn’t the end of his story. He leaves behind a legacy through how he touches his friends’ lives. His understanding of the kind of people his friends are, and what they truly need, leaves them with life lessons and the means to accomplish their individual destinies. He, too, thus finds peace as a traveling spirit who sees his friends move on with their lives, as he revisits the story through Amelia.