Barbara Ehrenreich
The writer, narrator, and in a sense protagonist of the book. A comfortably upper-middle-class writer and journalist, she dives into the low-wage workforce in order to investigate it, chronicling her experiences day by day. Ehrenreich, instead of pursuing an analytical response to the growing disparity between income-class levels, pursues an in-the-trenches, immersive investigative approach. What ersults, then, is a blur between Ehrenreich as an author and a character. She is her own fictional protagonist, who must at once comment on her own narrative, while still preserving the truth. The interesting aspect of this, then, is to wonder whether her character can at all be 100% objective about her own situation. In analyzing the book, then, we must repeatedly return to the question of the unreliable narrator -- and determine whether we can trust her feelings and responses to the issues 100% or whether we should consider simply the facts of her given account.
Gail
Gail is a waitress at Hearthside. Ehrenreich follows her on her first days on the job to learn the trade. Gail is middle-aged, wiry, and kind. Her boyfriend was recently killed in prison. She shares a room with a man who is hitting on her and driving her crazy, but without whom she couldn’t afford the place.
Stu
The assistant manager at Hearthside. A dictator, his primary job seems to be to make sure the employees are always working—even when the restaurant is nearly empty.
Phillip
The top manager at Hearthside. Just as tyrannical, he lectures employees about the “disgusting” break room, prohibits employee gossiping, bars off-duty employees from eating in the restaurant, and reminds everyone that lockers can be searched at whim at any time.
Joy
The manager at Jerry’s. A mood-swinger, he is not easy to work with (or, rather, work for).
Nita
One of the younger waitresses at Jerry’s and a co-worker of Ehrenreich’s. Twenty-something and tattooed.
Ellen
Another fellow Jerry’s waitress. Claims she once managed a place in Massachusetts but won’t apply for management at Jerry’s because she’d rather not order people around.
Lucy
An older waitress at Jerry’s, suffering from a leg problem that cannot be diagnosed or treated without health insurance—which she does not have.
George
Ehrenreich’s “saving human connection” at Jerry’s. George is a hard-working nineteen year-old dishwasher from the Czech Republic who has been in the U.S. for only a week, and whom Ehrenreich decides to teach English. He is later accused of stealing from the storage room.
Linda
Ehrenreich’s supervisor at the Woodcrest Residential Facility. Kind, supportive, shows Ehrenreich the ropes.
Pete
The cook at Woodcrest. Ehrenreich strikes up a friendly relationship with him, realizing that he has a great deal of power over dietary aides’ workload. He’s something of a braggart, but with a beat-up car and “scraggly” teeth.
Ted
Franchise owner of The Maids. Tyrannical yet smug, he insists lockouts are the fault of the employees and tells sick employees to “work through it”. Disgusted with his behavior, Ehrenreich privately compares him to a pimp.
Holly
A fellow employee at The Maids. Twenty-three years old and “visibly unwell”. Ehrenreich is assigned to her cleaning team, and grows increasingly concerned over Holly’s physical state.
Marge
Another Maids employee. The oldest and most affluent and talkative member of Holly’s cleaning team.
Roberta
Interviews Ehrenreich for a job at Wal-Mart. Sixty years old or so, with platinum blonde hair.
Caroline
The aunt of a friend of Ehrenreich’s, whom Ehrenreich meets in Minneapolis. Ehrenreich hopes to learn from Caroline, as Caroline went through a real-life version of what Ehrenreich has created for herself: she packed up her bags and headed from New York to Florida with no connections and only $1,600.
Ellie
Ehrenreich’s manager at Wal-Mart. In contrast to other managers Ehrenreich has previously described, Ellie is quite likable, and Ehrenreich likens her to “the apotheosis of ‘servant leadership’”.
Howard
The assistant manager at Wal-Mart. In contrast to Ellie’s more gentle style, Howard constantly rails about “time theft”.
Melissa
A coworker at Wal-Mart who buys Ehrenreich a sandwich because she has heard that Ehrenreich lives in a motel and only eats fast food. Ehrenreich is touched by this simple act of kindness.
Colleen
Employee at The Maids. Says she doesn't complain because she's a "simple person".
