52 pages • 1-hour read
The Wish
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Character Analysis
Maggie Dawes
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness and death.
Maggie is the protagonist and primary point-of-view character in the novel. In the present, she is 40 years old and dying of melanoma cancer that metastasized into her vital organs. As a successful photographer, she’s traveled all over the world and owns a gallery with a fellow artist in New York City. She tells the story of the only person she has ever loved, with the narrative flashing back to 1995 as she recounts the story to her new gallery assistant, Mark.
In the present day of the story, Maggie lives a largely isolated life. She’s estranged from her family, primarily because of their decision to send her to Ocracoke during her pregnancy as a teen and the lack of support that they showed her. She struggles to tell them about her new diagnosis now that her cancer is terminal. She has lived a largely transitory life, spending months each year traveling and taking photographs. She’s remained single, never fully recovering from the loss of Bryce. In the final months of her life, Maggie develops a deep, personal connection with Mark. She is kind and caring, taking Mark to the ballet, buying him dinner, and passing on her photographs before her death.
Maggie’s evolution in Ocracoke demonstrates The Transformative Power of Love and maps out her dynamic arc as a character. She arrives feeling lost and isolated, struggling in school, in conflict with her family, and unsure what she wants to do with the rest of her life. In Ocracoke, she forms a supportive, familial bond with Aunt Linda, develops a romantic bond with Bryce, excels in school, and discovers photography, which gives her a passion in life for the first time. She leaves Ocracoke feeling supported, in love, and with a clear direction for her future.
In both the past and present timelines, Maggie’s experiences evidence the novel’s thematic interest in The Importance of Human Connection When Coping With Difficult Circumstances. In Ocracoke, she comes to rely on Bryce and Aunt Linda as she struggles with her feelings of dislocation as a result of her pregnancy. Their love and support catalyze Maggie’s personal growth, giving her direction and happiness in her life. In the present, the bond that she forms with Mark allows her to find happiness in the final days of her life. While she struggles to share her diagnosis with her family and friend, she finds comfort in telling Mark about her past and recapturing the sense of love and belonging she felt with Bryce.
Bryce Trickett
Bryce is Maggie’s first and only love in her life. When she meets him, he is 17 years old and living on Ocracoke with his mother, father, and two twin brothers. Sparks introduces Bryce’s character by highlighting his thoughtfulness, kindness, and passion for helping others. Maggie considers him to be extremely attractive, but she finds his kindness and intelligence to be more important traits. She first meets him as he trains his dog on the ferry, then learns that he is doing so to give the dog to a family in need of a support animal. Maggie watches him help people in town prepare for the storm and spend hours each day tutoring her. He does whatever he can to help his mother and his younger siblings during his father’s frequent absences for work.
Sparks also characterizes Bryce as extremely driven and dedicated—traits that inspire Maggie to pursue work she loves. From a young age, Bryce is convinced that he wants to go to West Point to pursue a military career like his father and his grandfather. As Bryce’s mother explains, Bryce also stepped up during her recovery from her accident: “Bryce pretty much had to become the man of the house while his dad was at work, even though he was only nine years old. In addition to having to look after his brothers, he had to help take care of [his mother], too” (313). When Maggie meets Bryce, she notes his maturity and dedication to his schooling and his future—traits that provide her with a model for her own life. The love and support that she gets from Bryce remain crucial to her over the course of the novel. Bryce’s intelligence, and passion give her the motivation to do well in school and ultimately help her to discover her future in photography, underscoring The Role of Art in Self-Discovery as a central theme in the narrative.
Bryce puts the same characteristic passion into his relationship with Maggie, convinced that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. His decision to find a home for them, learn more information about his grandfather’s fishing business, and propose marriage to Maggie highlight the duality of his character. Sparks suggests that while he exhibits rare maturity in his family life and schoolwork, he’s simultaneously immature in his perspective on his future with Maggie. While good-intentioned, he also has flaws that underscore his youth and inexperience and highlight his own personal growth as ongoing.
Mark Price
Mark is the assistant Maggie hires at the gallery after business increases near the end of her life. In the novel’s climax, Sparks reveals that Mark is also Maggie’s son that she gave up for adoption 23 years prior. Although it’s a closed adoption, he decides to pursue his birth mother’s identity out of curiosity. Because of the popularity of Maggie’s YouTube videos about her illness, Mark is able to learn about her life and find her art gallery.
When Maggie first meets Mark, he’s 22 years old and pursuing a degree in theology to follow in his adopted father’s footsteps as a pastor. Maggie immediately notes how intelligent he is—learning everything that he can about both Maggie’s work and her partner’s work. He is professional and hard-working throughout his employment, allowing Maggie to take time away from the gallery to deal with her illness. Sparks emphasizes Mark’s patience, intelligence, and compassion in the fact that, despite wanting desperately to connect with his birth mother, he works in her gallery for nearly a year without revealing his true identity. He allows her the space she needs to handle her illness and is willing to support her just through his work at the gallery if that is what she needs.
Mark plays a similar role in the present day timeline that Bryce fulfills in the past, providing Maggie with the love and support she needs to complete her character arc. Telling Mark the story of her time at Ocracoke, helps Maggie cope with her illness and reckon with her mortality. Mark spends Christmas with Maggie, providing a reprieve from the isolation that has defined much of her life since Linda and Bryce’s deaths. Ultimately, Mark serves as a vessel through which Maggie and Bryce’s memories live on. In the final moments of the text, his return to Ocracoke to scatter Maggie’s ashes provides a happy ending for Maggie, even in her death.
Linda Dawes
Linda is Maggie’s aunt, with whom Maggie lives in Ocracoke during her pregnancy. As a former nun, she’s cared for dozens of pregnant young girls while with the convent. Maggie’s parents see her as a way to ensure that Maggie will be cared for during her pregnancy, while also allowing them to keep her pregnancy a secret from everyone in Seattle. Linda serves as an important support to Maggie during her pregnancy, serving as a source of human connection and unconditional support as she grapples with the physical and mental changes of her circumstances. Linda is kind and compassionate, while also ensuring that Maggie does her schoolwork and helps with chores around the house.
Linda serves as a mother-figure for Maggie during and after her time in Ocracoke. Sparks situates her as a foil to Maggie’s mother, who’s primarily concerned with hiding Maggie’s pregnancy from their social circle. When Maggie’s mother visits, she shows no interest in Maggie’s photography or the life she’s living there; instead, she’s focused on getting through Maggie’s pregnancy quickly and returning to the way things were. In contrast, Linda takes a deep interest in Maggie’s life, serving as a source of emotional support. She does not pry in Maggie’s life or try to tell her what to do, instead giving her the space to make her own decisions and offering guidance when Maggie asks for it. In this way, Linda emphasizes the theme of human connection, as she provides Maggie with love, support, and belonging for the first time in her life.
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