Firestarter

Andy is Charlie’s father and the novel’s most paternal force. Through his memories, the reader learns of his late wife, Vicky, and the Shop’s menace and experiments. Andy provides a living illustration of the negative consequences of using psychic ability. His continual deterioration foreshadows his death and increases tension. Though Charlie doesn’t weaken from using her abilities, Andy’s deterioration implies that her powers come with a cost. Her guilt, instilled by Andy, increases her burden.

Andy has created a “complex” about her powers and is the only person who can fully trigger them. He grants Charlie permission to use her power at the Manders farm, and again at the end of the of the novel so that she might escape the Shop. This breaks down her barriers of resistance and allows her to exercise her power under her own judgment, a key step in her coming-of-age. However, this also complicates Andy’s character. His encouragement of Charlie to use her pyrokinesis to kill and aid their escape at the Manders farm turns her into a weapon, which is exactly what the Shop attempts to do.

Andy’s paternal role in Charlie’s life imbues him with authority. Through him, King explores the failures of authority, even when well-intended. Andy represents the model of Western authority—paternal, male, with purportedly benevolent interests for those in his care. Yet King’s portrayal is damning. Andy is deteriorating, panicked, forcing his will upon others in order to find security. Despite teaching Charlie to feel guilt and shame at using her powers, he instructs her to use them whenever he needs her to. He cares deeply for Charlie, but his authority is flawed. Throughout the novel, authorities both malevolent and benevolent are depicted as failures.

Rainbird is an assassin. In the novel, he forges a relationship with Charlie and gains her trust. As an assassin, Rainbird is in a particular position to observe death, and seeks the meaning behind it. He experiences existential anxiety that motivates his most debased actions. King gives Rainbird quirks, such as shoe collecting, but he is primarily defined by his overriding mission to learn what happens immediately after death.

In characterizing him, King uses racialized stereotypes of Indigenous people. For example, Rainbird is stoic, and has a spiritual or supernatural connection with nature.

Rainbird is presented as a malevolent being throughout the book. He is heavily disfigured, yet does not hide it. He prefers to see people’s discomfort, believing this gives him control over them. In this way, King portrays another stereotype, that of the disfigured, evil villain.

Rainbird’s interest in Charlie amplifies his malevolence. His intentions toward Charlie are ambiguous, though they are distinctively couched in a sexual manner. This brings unease and a sense of revulsion to Rainbird’s interactions with her. King uses Rainbird to invest tension in the quietest of scenes, leaning upon his function as an agent of malevolent force.

Rainbird is a foil to Andy, or a character who illuminates another character through contrasting qualities. Like Andy, Rainbird is a father figure to Charlie. But unlike Charlie, he gaslights her, using forms of psychological manipulation to bring her closer to him.