The Human Stain

Faunia Farley works at a local dairy farm. She is also a janitor, both at the post office and at Athena College. She also can’t read, or at least claims this for most of the novel. She is the ex-wife of a violent Vietnam veteran named Lester Farley who has PTSD. Faunia experienced abuse from men since childhood, beginning with her stepfather and ending with her ex-husband. Now that they are divorced, he still stalks her and threatens her romantic partners. Faunia and Lester had two small children who died in a house fire, which devastates both Faunia and Lester.

Faunia is a young woman who has had an incredibly hard life. When Nathan meets her and tries to interact with her, she speaks very little and simply acts as if she is not there. She is the opposite of Coleman in many ways. He has a commanding presence; she makes herself invisible. He is an intellectual; she is (supposedly) illiterate. However, she is similar to Coleman in one important way: She seeks to construct and control her own identity. She lies about being illiterate. Nathan believes she does this purely out of boredom, but that is his perspective, and the reader can never really know. Faunia believes in the idea that humans will inevitably cause pain and suffering to others; this is “the human stain,” as she puts it. Faunia keeps insisting to Coleman that their affair is purely physical, with no deeper, emotional meaning. However, at the conclusion of the novel, it seems that Faunia embraces a kind of coupled serenity with Coleman. This ends abruptly when her ex-husband instigates a car crash that kills both her and Coleman.

Nathan Zuckerman is the narrator of the novel. He’s also Coleman’s neighbor and sometimes friend. Nathan’s character is in sharp contrast to Coleman’s character. While Coleman has an affair with a much younger woman, Nathan is impotent. While Coleman rediscovers his vitality, Nathan is incontinent after treatment for prostate cancer. Nathan’s main role in the novel is as the observer. Although narration frequently slips out of Nathan’s perspective, he is the person who synthesizes and interprets the other characters’ experiences. Nathan is the writer—both literally and symbolically. Nathan realizes that he does not and cannot know anything about anybody because nobody ever truly knows. As the writer, he imagines things instead of knowing the whole truth. 

Lester, frequently referred to as Les in the novel, is Faunia’s abusive ex-husband. Lester fought in the Vietnam War and, subsequently, has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and substance use issues upon his return to the United States. He stalks and threatens Faunia and any man who dates her, resulting in Smoky Hollenbeck refusing to continue his affair with Faunia. At the conclusion of the novel, it is understood that Lester caused the car accident that kills Coleman and Faunia. He threatens Nathan at the end, and a future narration suggests that Lester is being interviewed in a hospital about Faunia’s and Coleman’s deaths. Lester is a character who is unable to construct, or reconstruct, his own identity. After he returns from the Vietnam War, Lester feels that he is a murderer and later in the novel, that he is dead inside. Lester moves forward, resolutely confident that this “dead persona” is who he is supposed to be now. 

Delphine Roux is a professor at Athena College. From France, she moved to the United States to get out from under her famous intellectual mother’s shadow. Delphine’s character serves as an antagonist to Coleman’s character. She sends the handwritten note at the beginning of the novel. At the end of the novel, she spreads a lie that Coleman ransacked her office and sent an embarrassing email. In the parts of the novel narrated by Delphine, she believes that Coleman is obsessed with her. In reality, her actions and her thoughts suggest that Delphine is obsessed with Coleman and the fact that she has never received his admiration and respect. 

Steena was Coleman’s first love. They were both students at NYU. After being involved for several months, Coleman takes Steena home to meet his family and reveals his secret that he is African American. Steena ends the relationship. When she runs into Coleman four years later, she writes him a letter of love and regret.

Herb is a political science professor at Athena College. He is the first African American professor hired at Athena College, and Coleman hired him when Coleman was the Dean of Faculty. During the scandal, Herb tells Coleman that he can’t support him. At the end of the novel, Herb gives the eulogy at Coleman’s funeral and expresses regret for his actions. He publicly absolves Coleman of any fault or guilt of racism.

Nelson is Coleman’s lawyer. At Coleman’s request, Primus hires a handwriting expert to certify that Delphine Roux wrote the anonymous “Everybody knows” note. Nelson urges Coleman to end the affair with Faunia when Coleman comes to complain about Lester trespassing on his property. Nelson is confounded by the fact that Coleman yells at him for this suggestion and calls him “lily-white.”

Smoky is the head of the physical plant at Athena College and Faunia’s boss. He is a married man. Smoky has an affair with Faunia (in addition to other women), until Les threatens him and he gives Faunia up. He is one of two people who give the eulogy at Faunia’s funeral.

Iris is Coleman’s wife. She dies during the aftermath of the scandal, and Coleman insists that the people persecuting him at the university are responsible for her death. Iris was raised in a very unorthodox Jewish household. Coleman decides to never tell her his racial identity. She dies believing he is white and Jewish.

Lisa, Mark, Jeffrey, and Michael are the children of Iris and Coleman. Mark is estranged from Coleman, and the rest of his children remain connected but disapprove of Coleman’s relationship with Faunia. The Silk children orchestrate their father’s funeral as a way to restore his tarnished reputation at Athena College. At the conclusion of the novel, there is no indication that they know or that they will know their father’s racial identity, or that they know of their relatives in East Orange.

Ernestine is Coleman’s sister. She plays a significant role in the conclusion of the novel, as her appearance at Coleman’s funeral leads Nathan to learn the truth about Coleman’s racial identity. She judges her brother for not telling the truth about his identity and mourns the pain it caused their mother.