Being There characters

Appears from the start

A middle-aged man who has spent his entire life inside a wealthy Washington household, tending its walled garden and watching television. He cannot read or write and understands little beyond gardening and the patterns he has absorbed from the screen. After the owner dies, Chance is sent into the city with no money, records, or practical experience.

Appears from the start

The owner of the house where Chance has always lived and worked. His death ends the sheltered routine that has defined Chance's life and leaves no official proof that Chance ever belonged in the household.

Appears from the start

A longtime servant in the Old Man's house who knows that Chance has never lived in the outside world. She leaves after the death and later sees how completely the public image of Chance differs from the man she remembers.

Also known as EE

First appears in chapter 2

Benjamin Rand's elegant younger wife. Her chauffeur-driven car injures Chance soon after he is forced from the Old Man's house, and she takes him home for medical attention. Hearing his name as Chauncey Gardiner, she assumes he is a cultivated businessman fallen on difficult circumstances.

First appears in chapter 3

A gravely ill financier whose wealth and counsel give him access to the highest levels of American politics. He welcomes the apparently reserved Chauncey Gardiner into his home and interprets Chance's simple remarks about seasonal work in a garden as economic wisdom.

First appears in chapter 4

The President of the United States, who visits Benjamin Rand and asks the supposed Chauncey Gardiner for his view of the economy. Chance answers with observations about growth, decay, and the turning seasons, which the President takes as a reassuring policy metaphor.

First appears in chapter 6

The Soviet ambassador, an experienced diplomat who meets Chance after his sudden rise to national notice. Chance's calm manner and disconnected answers persuade him that the newcomer may be communicating with unusual subtlety.