The Incredible Shrinking Man characters

Appears from the start

A suburban husband and father whose body begins losing a small, measurable amount of height each day after two unusual chemical exposures. Scott initially treats the change as a medical problem that can be solved, but the steady loss of size threatens his work, privacy, marriage, and sense of himself. The novel follows both his public decline and his later struggle to survive in an ordinary house transformed by scale.

Appears from the start

Scott's wife, confronted with a condition neither of them understands and with the practical burdens created as he becomes smaller. She tries to support him while his fear, anger, and increasing dependence place their marriage under severe strain.

First appears in chapter 2

Scott and Louise's young daughter. As Scott diminishes, his changing relationship to Beth makes the loss of his familiar place within the family painfully visible.

First appears in chapter 4

Scott's brother, who helps the Carey family deal with the practical and financial consequences of Scott's condition, including the unwanted public attention it attracts.

First appears in chapter 5

A physician involved in investigating Scott's unprecedented loss of height. He searches for a biological explanation and a treatment while being careful not to promise that medicine can reverse the process.

First appears in chapter 9

A very short woman Scott meets while his shrinking has made ordinary social encounters humiliating. Her ease with her own body offers him a brief experience of companionship without the same imbalance of scale.

First appears in chapter 13

A large spider inhabiting the basement where Scott is stranded. At Scott's reduced scale it is a powerful predator and the chief obstacle between him and the food he needs to survive.