The Conditions of Will

Sam is one of the novel’s primary characters. He is also the male romantic lead. Sam comes into Georgia’s life via her brother Oliver. They first meet when they arrive at the Carter family’s home in Okatie, South Carolina for Will’s funeral. Georgia is immediately attracted to Sam’s good looks but assumes that he’s Oliver’s new boyfriend. She soon discovers that he’s Oliver’s straight AA sponsor. Her description of Sam during their first encounter signals their developing romance:

I see a person I’ve never seen before. Very tall—spends a lot of time in the sun with that tan of his, and brown hair […] He’s wearing light-washed blue jeans with the knees all ripped, a white T-shirt, and no shoes. He’s got rings on his fingers and a few necklaces tucked away, and he is—without a doubt—the most attractive man I’ve ever seen in my entire life, so much so that I am immediately sure he is gay. That’s just the way the world works (18).

Georgia is acutely attuned to Sam’s appearance. She details his physique, his posture, and his attire. At the same time, she decides that he must be gay because she immediately assumes that someone so attractive would be unavailable to her. This moment of interiority implies that Georgia doesn’t believe she deserves to be with someone like Sam.

As Sam and Georgia get to know each other, Georgia discovers more complex facets of Sam’s character. Her physical and sexual attraction to him never wanes, but her emotional attraction to him does grow. She discovers that Sam isn’t just the proverbial “pretty face” but is a deep-thinking, caring, and emotionally mature individual. Sam is open and honest about his feelings. He entrusts Georgia with vulnerable details of his past—telling her about his mom’s death, his history of addiction, and his journey toward sobriety. These revelations only intensify Georgia’s appreciation for Sam’s strength of character in the present. Like her, she feels that Sam has gone through traumatic experiences and emerged a better person because of them.

Sam is indeed caring, loving, and emotionally invested in Georgia. He sees her in a way that others don’t. When he learns about her past, he doesn’t hold it against her. However, he also challenges Georgia to confront her loved ones, to stand up for herself, and to own her experience. (The scenes where he urges her to speak to her dead father and stands up for her at the bar capture his investment in Georgia’s experience.) Sam also sacrifices his life in California to pursue a committed relationship with Georgia. Moving to London with her is his way of demonstrating his love for her and belief in their future.

Oliver is another of the novel’s primary characters. His parents are Margaret and Will, and his siblings are Georgia, Tennyson, and Maryanne. He has always been closest with Georgia because she is the only family member who is sympathetic to his experience and who genuinely wants him to be happy. Oliver has been a pariah in the Carter family ever since they discovered that he was gay. Their anti-gay biases endangered Oliver emotionally. He felt incapable of expressing himself and claiming his authentic identity. Furthermore, his family kicked him out of their home and shipped him off to military school in California. From Georgia’s perspective, Oliver’s involuntary departure from Okatie, South Carolina, impacted him in both positive and negative ways:

Los Angeles was in many ways both a wonderful and a terrible move for my brother. It was the first place where Oliver ever really felt at home and accepted. It was the first place he was ever fully himself. It was the first place he was ever afforded the space to feel the weight of the life he left behind in Okatie and breathe in all the ways our family failed us. It also swallowed him whole (9).

Leaving Okatie delivered Oliver from the abuse he suffered at home and allowed him to establish himself outside this oppressive context. At the same time, being in California forced Oliver into an unknown he wasn’t ready to navigate on his own. Without a support system, he “fell in with […] the wrong crowd” and developed an addiction to alcohol (9). His inability to care for himself endangered him emotionally and physically. (For these reasons, Georgia often worried about him and tried intervening on his behalf to get him help.)

In the narrative present, Oliver is still wrestling with many of these internal challenges. He is in AA and working with his sponsor Sam to maintain sobriety. However, returning to Okatie puts him in a vulnerable position. He is forced to confront the people and places that contributed to his trauma. It’s especially hard for Oliver to process the revelation about Will’s sexuality because Will abused him for being gay throughout his entire life; this discovery paired with the generous inheritance Will leaves Oliver proves difficult for Oliver to reconcile. Despite these complexities, Oliver does prove to be a dynamic character by the novel’s end. The Epilogue reveals that he’s been working hard to maintain his sobriety with both Sam’s and Georgia’s help.

Maryanne is a secondary character. She is one of Margaret and Will’s four children. She and Georgia have had a fraught relationship since they were children. Georgia believes that Maryanne has narcissistic and sociopathic tendencies, and finds it nearly impossible to communicate with her. Maryanne has meanwhile used her sister to maintain her reputation as the “good” daughter in the family. She knew that her ex-boyfriend Beckett was raping Georgia but did nothing to stop him; she feared that outing Beckett would compromise her social standing. Even after Georgia reveals the truth to the family, Maryanne maintains her innocence and even poses herself as a victim. She is a controlling and selfish character, who shows no interest in change. She also verbally attacks and emotionally abuses Georgia whenever she can. These behaviors make her an antagonist in Georgia’s story, as she is always creating tension or stirring up trouble.

Tennyson is another secondary character and member of the Carter family. He is Margaret and Will’s eldest child and has been treated with favoritism since he was young. Georgia has never had a close relationship with Tennyson and sees him as Maryanne’s confidante. In the narrative present, however, she discovers that Tennyson has changed. He’s ready to admit his failings in the past and pursue reconciliation. He makes active attempts throughout the novel to heal his relationships with both Georgia and Oliver. He openly acknowledges the ways he hurt or abandoned his siblings and tries to invest in their experiences in the present to make amends. His character proves to be dynamic, because he becomes a more caring, devoted brother by the novel’s end.