68 pages • 2-hour read
The Last Party
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Character Analysis
Perla Wultz/Jenny Folcrum
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, illness, death, child death, child sexual abuse, child abuse, emotional abuse, mental illness, and substance use.
Perla is the protagonist of The Last Party and is an antihero. From the outside, she appears flawless: She is beautiful and wealthy, with a handsome, doting husband and a well-behaved daughter. Perla’s narration contradicts her well-groomed exterior, revealing a selfish and amoral personality. She is obsessed with status markers and with receiving the life she thinks she deserves. To further her own ends, she deceives and uses others without remorse.
Perla is extremely possessive of the men in her life, wanting to be the sole object of their attention and attraction, an obsession that encompasses both Grant and Leewood. Perla keeps Grant under her control via emotional abuse, highlighting The Danger of Control in Relationships. Though she craves his validation, she finds him weak and unappealing. By contrast, Perla is deeply attracted to Leewood and wants to start a relationship with him at any cost.
As Perla plans the murder of her daughter and two other young girls, she works overtime to keep up the façade of a perfect wife and mother. Her ability to fool others into believing she is a good person by curating her appearance exemplifies The Deceptive Nature of Appearances. As the narrative unfolds, Perla’s connection to the Folcrum Party is slowly uncovered. In a climactic twist, she is revealed to be Jenny Folcrum. Rather than an innocent victim of Leewood’s, she is a triple murderer, having killed her mother and her two friends to secure her father’s undivided attention.
Though Perla is undoubtedly a villain, the narrative raises questions about what ultimately caused her actions. Perla experienced serious trauma in her formative years at Leewood’s hands. Though her adoptive parents were not abusive, they taught her to over-value status and appearance, encouraging her to makeover her appearance and personality to fit into high society. As an adult, she struggles with The Lasting Effects of Childhood Trauma. No one showed Perla unconditional love or taught her the basic tenets of morality that most people take for granted. Perla’s worldview was undoubtedly shaped by her upbringing, and it remains unclear whether she would have developed into the same adult had she had a happier childhood.
Leewood Folcrum
Leewood is the novel’s contagonist and secondary narrator. He is serving out a life sentence at Lancaster Prison for the attempted murder of his daughter, Jenny, and the murders of her friends Kitty and Lucy. Leewood’s role in the murders remains unclear for much of the narrative. Though he maintains his innocence even in his internal monologue, he refuses to recount what happened on the night of the Folcrum Party. As the narrative progresses, Leewood is revealed to be a sexual predator with a history of abusing pre-pubescent girls.
Throughout the novel, Perla alludes to a complex relationship with her biological father, whose approval she has craved deeply since childhood. She also expresses an intense emotional and sexual attraction to Leewood. During the novel’s climax, Leewood is revealed to be Perla’s biological father. Her attraction toward him is implied to be a result of their emotionally incestuous dynamic during Perla’s childhood, which developed after the death of Perla’s mother. Leewood’s frequent substance use and lack of responsibility forced Perla into a caretaker position from a very young age, as she learned to be responsible for both herself and Leewood.
Leewood also impressed upon Perla the importance of secrets as a tactic to keep her from speaking up about the sexual abuse he perpetrated against her friends. He curated “a relationship of ironclad confidentiality and trust” to keep his crimes from coming to light (72). Leewood’s abusive parenting created an unhealthy bond between himself and Perla. Her deep resentment of any perceived rivals for his love led her to murder her mother and her two friends.
At the end of the novel, Leewood is terminally ill. He finally comes clean, confessing that he did not kill Kitty and Lucy. After discovering that Jenny had murdered her friends, Leewood tried to kill her by slitting her throat but was unable to act decisively, and Jenny survived. After Grant saves Sophie and kills Perla, Sophie visits him in the hospital. Leewood is happy to see his granddaughter before he dies.
Grant Wultz
Grant is the novel’s deuteragonist. He is Perla’s husband and the brother of Lucy, one of the Folcrum Party victims. Lucy’s murder has left Grant deeply traumatized, and he spends much of the novel corresponding with Leewood, trying to learn the truth about her final moments. Grant displays a nuanced understanding of morality—he does not believe that Leewood is purely evil and often wrestles with the question of whether he could kill somebody if pushed.
Smart, handsome, and kind-hearted, Grant is a devoted husband and father. He loves both Perla and Sophie deeply, a fact that causes Perla to spiral into resentment. Grant is an object of Perla’s obsession, and she emotionally abuses him to keep him under her thumb, manipulating him through lies and faked displays of emotion.
Grant was initially drawn to Perla because of their shared experience with the Folcrum Party and believes that they are both innocent victims of Leewood. By showing love and devotion to Perla, he feels that he is “by extension, giving those things to Lucy” (326). Grant’s love for both Lucy and Perla makes the novel’s twist particularly impactful for his character.
Grant does not discover Perla’s real identity until late in the novel. Even as he searches for the truth about Lucy’s death, he is unaware of the fact that her killer is the woman he loves. Only after learning about Perla’s true identity is Grant able to break out of her control. He reclaims his agency by saving Sophie and her friends, killing Perla to keep his family safe. This act complicates his stance on murder and morality.
Sophie Wultz
Sophie is Perla and Grant’s daughter. A precocious 11-year-old, Sophie’s journal entries reveal her keen observations about her family’s dynamic. She picks up on and mimics her mother’s shallow and manipulative tendencies, idolizing fame and wealth while seeking out friends she can easily control. From Perla, Sophie has learned how to use dishonesty to her advantage—she lies frequently and fluently to get what she wants.
Perla loathes Sophie, viewing her as a complication in an otherwise picture-perfect life. She alludes to experiencing postpartum depression and psychosis after Sophie’s birth, having contemplated “throwing the infant down onto the pavement” (123), but her resentment toward Sophie has extended far past infancy. Perla resents Sophie’s youth, her comparatively happy childhood, and what she perceives as competition for Grant’s love. Perla feels no remorse about her plan to murder her daughter.
Sophie is a complex character who demonstrates the influence of parenting. Many of her unsavory behaviors are clearly learned from Perla rather than developed organically. Unlike a young Perla, however, Sophie also has the influence of a stable and caring parent in Grant. Her character arc ends on an ambiguous note, with her telling a serious lie to get Grant out of trouble. At the novel’s end, Grant vows to teach Sophie the importance of honesty, kindness, and humility to ensure that she does not turn out like Perla.
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