The Red Umbrella Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Lucía Álvarez

A fourteen-year-old Cuban girl yanked from her home and shipped alone to America, she fights to keep her brother, her language, and her memory of home intact. She grows from a scared kid into the family's keeper of stories.

Appears in:: Part 1: Soldiers at the Corner Store; Part 2: Strangers' Houses, Foreign Words; Part 3: Snow Where Palm Trees Should Be; Part 4: What Survives
Themes:: Parents' impossible choices; Language as home; Children in political crossfire; What survives the breaking; The kindness of strangers

Frankie Álvarez

Lucía's twelve-year-old brother, who masks fear with bravado on the plane and slowly loses his Spanish in Nebraska. His drift toward English is what Lucía fights hardest against.

Appears in:: Part 1: Soldiers at the Corner Store; Part 2: Strangers' Houses, Foreign Words; Part 3: Snow Where Palm Trees Should Be
Themes:: Language as home; The kindness of strangers

Lucía's parents

A pharmacist father and a mother who choose the unbearable: sending their children away to keep them. Their censored letters and a single crackling phone call carry the family's hope.

Appears in:: Part 1: Soldiers at the Corner Store; Part 2: Strangers' Houses, Foreign Words; Part 3: Snow Where Palm Trees Should Be; Part 4: What Survives
Themes:: Parents' impossible choices; Language as home; What survives the breaking

Mrs. Baxter

The Catholic Welfare Bureau worker who processes the siblings in Miami and later receives Lucía's thanks. She's the program's human face.

Appears in:: Part 2: Strangers' Houses, Foreign Words; Part 4: What Survives
Themes:: The kindness of strangers

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Marisol

Lucía's bunkmate at the group home, haunted by nightmares of never seeing her parents again. She gives voice to the fear every child there carries.

Appears in:: Part 2: Strangers' Houses, Foreign Words

Father Walsh

The priest who celebrates Christmas Eve Mass for the displaced children and tells them their parents acted out of love. He led the real Catholic Welfare Bureau effort behind the program.

Appears in:: Part 2: Strangers' Houses, Foreign Words
Themes:: The kindness of strangers

Ivette

Lucía's friend in Cuba, who signs up for the Young Pioneers with enthusiasm while Lucía hangs back. Her choice marks how the revolution splits even friendships.

Appears in:: Part 1: Soldiers at the Corner Store

How they are connected

Key relationships

Frankie Álvarez Lucía Álvarez
Lucía's twelve-year-old brother, who masks fear with bravado on the plane and slowly loses his Spanish in Nebraska.
Frankie Álvarez Lucía's parents
Lucía's twelve-year-old brother, who masks fear with bravado on the plane and slowly loses his Spanish in Nebraska.
Mrs. Baxter Lucía Álvarez
The Catholic Welfare Bureau worker who processes the siblings in Miami and later receives Lucía's thanks.
Mrs. Baxter Lucía's parents
The Catholic Welfare Bureau worker who processes the siblings in Miami and later receives Lucía's thanks.
Marisol Lucía Álvarez
Lucía's bunkmate at the group home, haunted by nightmares of never seeing her parents again.
Marisol Lucía's parents
Lucía's bunkmate at the group home, haunted by nightmares of never seeing her parents again.
Father Walsh Lucía's parents
The priest who celebrates Christmas Eve Mass for the displaced children and tells them their parents acted out of love.
Ivette Lucía Álvarez
Lucía's friend in Cuba, who signs up for the Young Pioneers with enthusiasm while Lucía hangs back.
Ivette Lucía's parents
Lucía's friend in Cuba, who signs up for the Young Pioneers with enthusiasm while Lucía hangs back.

Go deeper

The Red Umbrella themes & symbols

Parents' impossible choices · Language as home · Children in political crossfire · What survives the breaking

Themes explained

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