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Lillian Breaker is the story’s 28-year-old narrator and protagonist. Lillian avoids describing her own physical characteristics, only once mentioning that she is and has always been “soft” (97). She also mentions that she failed to inherit the good looks of her mother’s youth. This indicates that Lillian does not see value in her own attributes and reflects one of Lillian’s central characteristics—her extremely low self-esteem. Lillian has a difficult relationship with her mother, a woman who is never named. This is a deliberate act and shows that Lillian is disinclined to grant her mother a position of importance in her story; her mother has been a source of persistent condescension. Madison is one of few people who ever show Lillian genuine kindness. Their relationship reflects many of the complicated realities of female friendships, but it also carries an undercurrent of something more: Lillian loves Madison, wants to kiss her, and wants to be with her (the novel does not explicitly address or label Lillian’s queerness, but it is present not only in her interactions with Madison but also in her repulsion at the thought of romance with men). This love, which is originally unrequited, causes Lillian to tolerate behavior from Madison no unbiased person would accept.
Lillian is a rulebreaker and has been since her youth. Her academic excellence is both the result of her innate ability and her willingness to plagiarize to get ahead. This streak continues into adulthood, where she skips work and commits petty theft at her various workplaces. Her job before assuming care of Bessie and Roland is not an exciting or rewarding one; she flits between jobs as a cashier for competing supermarkets. Her life outside work is even less satisfying, as she spends her days smoking weed in a converted room in her mother’s cramped attic. One of the few pastimes she enjoys is basketball, and she is an above average player. She is by nature strange and chaotic, which is what makes her the perfect caretaker for children who disrupt the Roberts family status quo.
Lillian thrives in this role and learns the challenging realities of parenthood firsthand. It gives her insight into her frustrating relationship with her mother, and with it a sense of empathy and understanding. Over the course of the summer, she finds love and self-acceptance by learning to love Bessie and Roland’s weirdness. Lillian becomes the kind of mother she would have dreamed of having.
Madison Roberts (née Billings) is the youngest of five siblings and her parents’ only daughter. Narrator Lillian calls her “the most beautiful woman” she has ever met and allocates a considerable amount of space to describing this beauty (6). This reflects her obsession with Madison and Lillian’s willingness to cater to her friend at her own expense. Madison has an overwhelming physical presence, both because of the literal height and because of a supernatural quality Lillian attributes to her. During their face-to-face reunion, Madison’s presence is so disarming that Lillian temporarily loses control of her body. There is an element of romance to the women’s relationship, but it is something Madison never allows herself to entertain because Lillian could never give her the life of which she dreams.
Instead, Madison marries Jasper, whose significant wealth and political influence provide the exceptional standard of living that Madison has wanted since she was a young girl. She may not be president herself, but she is willing to settle for marriage to a man on a path to the White House. Madison’s role in getting Jasper into these positions cannot be discounted. While he is the political legacy, she possesses the superior savvy. Her husband arguably needs her more than she needs him.
Madison’s dogged drive to succeed is a defining aspect of her character. She carries this mentality even into recreational games of basketball, a game she loves as much as Lillian does. Her mother never embraced these aggressive characteristics because she felt they were “ugly.” Madison, however, has learned from mother’s cruelty and is an accepting mother—at least to her own son. Her twin stepchildren, Roland and Bessie, are a different story; while she wants them to like her, she keeps her distance and never thinks of them as hers. She is aware that she is not always an instinctively compassionate person, but by the novel’s conclusion her conscience leads her in the right direction. She stops Jasper from making an already awful situation much worse and gives Lillian the one thing she wished for—to never be separated from Bessie and Roland.
Bessie is one of Jasper Roberts’s twin “fire children” from his previous marriage to Jane Cunningham. Bessie is a funny looking child and has “emerald and shiny” green eyes as well as a disastrous bowl cut (49). Despite her gangly body, her face still is still rounded with baby fat. This is a valuable reminder of Bessie’s youth because she conducts herself with a level of seriousness that belies her age. If Roland is the open and excitable twin, Bessie counterbalances this with her guardedness. This adult role denies her the pleasures of her brother’s carefree excitement, but the twins have good reason to be guarded: They have endured the trauma of their father’s infidelity and divorce of their mother, and they later watched their mother die from suicide as part of a pact to take them along with her. Along the way, Bessie designated herself as her brother’s keeper and now puts his protection above hers.
The twins both catch on fire, seemingly whenever they are emotionally overwhelmed, but with Lillian’s help Bessie cultivates the ability to control the fire. What started as an uncontrollable defense mechanism develops into a more aggressive tactic for keeping her and her brother safe. Bessie takes comfort in knowing that within them is the power to burn everything to the ground. With her fire control also comes increased emotional intelligence. She learns to accept herself and her place in the world and teaches Lillian as much about this kind of acceptance as Lillian does her. Her maturity is a valuable asset, and it is her belief in Lillian’s ability to take care of them that convinces Lillian to take the leap into becoming the twins’ legal guardian.
Roland is Bessie’s twin brother and the other of Jasper Roberts’s fire children from his marriage to Jane Cunningham. Like his sister, Roland has startlingly bright green eyes and a physical awkwardness that results from poor nutrition and general neglect. He also shares her predilection for catching on fire. Although he is the same age as Bessie, Roland lacks maturity in comparison. Bessie has shielded him from some of the harsh things they have experienced, and therefore he is more childlike. He is smart and a quick learner, but he possesses an innocence and naivety that make him less cynical about the world. His personality is a lighthearted counterpoint to his sister’s more serious one. He reminds readers that despite everything, these are just 10-year-old children.
Narrator Lillian estimates Carl as being in his late forties and describes him as short, lean, and unattractive. He is an intense man who uses his intimidating presence to make people uncomfortable. Carl is a former newspaper reporter and insurance salesman turned private investigator who came into the employ of Jasper Roberts after investigating someone for him. Jasper admired his discretion and his political sources, so he hired Carl as a full-time employee. Carl acts as a foot soldier and messenger—chiefly for Jasper but also for his wife Madison. He acts as an extension of the Roberts’ power and is integral to enforcing their orders in absentia. Carl comes from a rough background and is glad to work for Jasper because the job has vastly improved his circumstances.
The banter between Carl and Lillian produces some of the novel’s most humorous moments. Their contrasting personalities often invoke the kind of wacky juxtapositions typical of absurdist comedy. Although Lillian is often able to temper some of Carl’s rigidity, his loyalty is steadfastly with his employers. One of Nothing to See Here’s final images of Carl is him holding Bessie and Roland’s hands. It depicts his notable growth from the days when he avoided contact with the children altogether.
Timothy is Madison and Jasper’s only child, who is approximately three years old. Timothy inherited his mother’s exceptional beauty, but at his young age it appears “unnatural,” even “cartoonish,” particularly because of his huge eyes. His robotic behavior and adult-style clothing lend a touch of absurdity to his characterization. His mother acknowledges and accepts his eccentricities and allows him to express his true self in a way she was never permitted. He is never malicious, though, and spends much of his time in the mansion observing the activities in the guest house. Lillian perceives his watching as prying, but his happiness when playing with Roland speaks to the isolation he must feel as the only child in the large house. Despite his parents’ extensive efforts to keep his siblings’ condition a secret, Timothy erupts in flames during his father’s press conference. His mother’s objections to him being institutionalized are a key factor in forcing Jasper to allow Lilian, Bessie, and Roland to be together permanently.
Jasper Roberts is Madison’s husband and a senator for the state of Tennessee. He is a tall and handsome older man who comes from a politically and financially distinguished Southern family. His political legacy was especially attractive to the ambitious Madison, who took full advantage of her proximity to him while working on his reelection campaign. The death of his ex-wife by suicide brings his twin children into his custody, and the chance to secure a Cabinet position prompts the family to hire Lillian to keep the children a secret. Jasper claims to regret his mistakes, which include being a serial philanderer and neglectful father, but this is just campaign messaging. Jasper is in fact an almost entirely artificial construction, and even in intimate moments with his family he speaks in the same scripted manner he would use with a voter. Despite this, there is something about him that Madison sincerely loves and that even Lillian recognizes as enticing. Much of his decision-making comes from Madison, whose instructions go in his ear and then out of his mouth.
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