Seize the Day characters

Also known as Wilky Adler

Appears from the start

A man in his forties living at New York's Hotel Gloriana after losing his sales job and separating from his wife. Born Wilky Adler, he adopted the name Tommy Wilhelm during an unsuccessful attempt to become an actor. Burdened by money worries and hungry for sympathy, he has staked his remaining funds on a commodities scheme run by Dr. Tamkin.

Appears from the start

Tommy's elderly father, a successful retired physician who also lives at the Gloriana. Dr. Adler values discipline, independence, and the respectable life he believes he built through his own efforts. He is embarrassed by Tommy's failures and resists his son's appeals for emotional or financial rescue.

Also known as Dr. Tamkin

Appears from the start

A talkative self-styled psychologist and speculator who befriends Tommy at the hotel. Tamkin offers grand theories about the true and false selves, tells unverifiable stories about his past, and manages the joint commodities account holding Tommy's last substantial savings.

Appears from the start

Tommy's estranged wife and the mother of their two sons. She remains offstage but exerts constant pressure through telephone calls and financial demands. She refuses to agree to a divorce while insisting that Tommy continue meeting the family's expenses.

First appears in chapter 2

A devout woman whom Tommy loves and hopes to marry. Their future is blocked because Margaret will not divorce him and because Tommy lacks the stability to establish a new household.

First appears in chapter 2

Tommy's sister, who asks their father to support her artistic ambitions. Dr. Adler groups her requests with Tommy's dependence, reinforcing Tommy's sense that his father sees both children chiefly as demands upon him.

Appears from the start

An elderly resident of the Hotel Gloriana who joins Dr. Adler and Tommy at breakfast. His presence makes Tommy more conscious of the polished public version of family success that his father presents to other people.

Appears from the start

A newspaper-stand clerk in the hotel lobby who exchanges a few familiar words with Tommy. The strained encounter reflects Tommy's sensitivity to judgment and his wish to find connection in even routine contact.