Apt Pupil characters

Appears from the start

A bright thirteen-year-old from a comfortable Southern California family, outwardly successful at school and skilled at presenting adults with the version of himself they expect. His private fascination with Nazi crimes leads him to identify an elderly fugitive and turn that knowledge into a means of coercion.

Also known as Arthur Denker

Appears from the start

An elderly German living quietly in Santo Donato under the name Arthur Denker. Todd identifies him as Kurt Dussander, a former commandant of a Nazi extermination camp who escaped prosecution. Age and concealment have made him cautious, but he remains calculating when Todd threatens to expose him.

First appears in chapter 3

Todd's father, a financially comfortable and trusting man who takes pride in his son's intelligence and school record. He accepts Todd's explanations readily and assumes that the adults around the boy are helping him maintain his promising future.

First appears in chapter 3

Todd's mother. Like her husband, she sees Todd as a well-adjusted high achiever and has little reason at first to question the reassuring accounts he gives of his time and schoolwork.

Also known as Rubber Ed

First appears in chapter 11

Todd's school guidance counselor. Informal in manner but conscientious, he notices when Todd's performance drops and insists on involving the family rather than accepting the boy's reassurances at face value.

First appears in chapter 25

An elderly Jewish survivor of the Nazi camps who shares a hospital room with Dussander. Illness and time have blurred some memories, but the presence of the man in the neighboring bed stirs recognition and recurring terror.

First appears in chapter 28

An investigator devoted to locating Nazi fugitives. He receives information that may identify the supposed Arthur Denker as a wanted camp official and begins the formal process of confirming the old man's past.