Downsiders

Lindsay is one of the story’s two protagonists and Talon’s love interest. Whereas Talon represents the Downside, Lindsay represents the Topside. She’s a dynamic character, and her life and identity are in flux at the beginning of the novel. With her mom spending the next three years in Africa, Lindsay moves from Texas to New York City to live with her dad, Mark, and stepbrother, Todd. She doesn’t connect with either of them. Mark is busy with his aqueduct project, and Todd is antagonistic. No one at school becomes a meaningful friend, either. She hangs out with the garrulous Becky, but not because she likes her: “From the very beginning, Becky had glommed onto Lindsay like a barnacle to a boat, and Lindsay didn’t have the strength to scrape the poor girl off her hull” (72). Until she meets Talon, Lindsay is a loner, but she’s also self-reliant and tough, neutralizing Talon when she sees him in her bedroom and thinks he’s there for sinister reasons. She’s also compassionate and open-minded. Her most meaningful relationship is with Talon—though he dresses differently, talks differently, and lives in a different world. In other words, differences don’t bother her.

Talon helps Lindsay develop an authentic identity. The narrator states, “[T]he girl who had grown under her mother’s tutelage wasn’t the girl she wanted to be anymore. The problem was, there was no image rushing in to fill that void” (65). Talon supplies an image. After they meet, she ditches her braid and lets her hair go wild. She also wears the earrings Talon gives her, generating the school rumor that she’s a long-lost princess. Aside from personal style, Lindsay has smarts, and her research connects Alfred Beach to the Downside. Through Lindsay, Talon learns the truth, but Talon doesn’t tell the others, and Lindsay doesn’t know if she should’ve told Talon the real origin of the Downside. Lindsay and Talon don’t end up together, but Talon suggests that they might meet again in the future.

Railborn is Talon’s sidekick, antagonist, and foil. The narrator describes Railborn as a “true friend for longer than Talon could remember” (70), but their friendship frequently becomes antagonistic. As a foil to Talon, Railborn isn’t curious about the Topside, he dreams of greatness, and he wants to obey the rules and norms of the Downside, thinking of himself as “a good citizen” (116).

Though Railborn exposes Talon to serious danger—execution and the Chamber of Soft Walls—Railborn regrets his actions and apologizes to his friend. The Wise Advisors want to turn Railborn into a Most-Beloved whom they can manipulate, but Railborn, finally acting on his compassion, goes Topside to save Gutta. Gutta is his romantic interest, but Gutta likes Talon more than him. Nevertheless, Railborn has a relatively happy ending. He’s in a home for teens without parents, and he excels at navigating the internet.

Gutta is a sidekick and a flat character. In their group, most of the action takes place between Talon and Railborn, turning Gutta into a spectator. Gutta likes Talon. After Talon asks Railborn to go to the surface with him, Gutta declares, “I’d go with you, if you asked me” (27). Railborn likes Gutta, and his romantic interest in her partly propels him to tell the Wise Advisors about Talon’s relationship with Lindsay. If he gets Talon out of their group, then it’ll just be him and Gutta. Gutta compares Railborn to Talon, scolding Railborn for not acting as selflessly as Talon. Railborn redeems himself in sacrificing his Downside existence to save Gutta’s life. Like Railborn, Gutta carves out a new life for herself in the Topside, living in a home for young people without parents and becoming an astute conflict mediator.

Alfred Ely Beach was a real person, but Neal Shusterman fuses fact with fiction. As Shusterman tells Beach’s history in Chapter 14, he notes accurate details: Beach played a key role in turning Scientific American into a formidable periodical, and he invented the typewriter and secretly built New York City’s first subway to avoid working with William Magear Tweed (Mayor “Boss” Tweed in the story).

In real life and the story, Beach’s character appears peculiar and quirky. Lindsay’s dad describes Beach as an “inventor—a crazy one—who lived a very long time ago” (112). After researching Beach, Lindsay thinks of him as an “eccentric inventor choosing to invent a society all his own” (169). In reality, Beach didn’t create the Downside. However, in the book, he originated the society, and the human origins of the Downside threaten the myth, so Talon hides the truth from Downsiders. For Talon, Beach’s spirit functions as a mentor. He visits his majestic grave in the Place of First Runes, and, speaking to the grave, works out his reasoning for not circulating the real foundation of the Downside.

Reginald Champlain (“the Champ” or “Champ”) is a relatively flat character, and the reader doesn’t know much about him aside from his service in the military, which made him a part of Pearl Harbor. Champ is an unhoused person who finds shelter in a swimming pool in an abandoned municipal building near FDR Drive. Like Downsiders, Champ is resourceful, turning the pool into a home. Champ lives Topside, but he identifies as neither Topsider nor Downsider, telling Lindsay, “I’m what you might call an independent” (108). Lindsay and Talon rely on Champ for advice and general help. Talon speaks to him about his crush on Lindsay, and Lindsay talks to him about Beach. After the Bot, they go to Champ to compose themselves. Thus, Champ is a mentor and a parental figure.

The study guide refers to the Champ as Champ for concision, but the narrator always calls Champ “the Champ,” reinforcing his singularity. There’s only one Champ, and Reginald Chamberlain is it. The name carries a socioeconomic irony, suggesting a person doesn’t need wealth or status to lead a successful life.

Mark is Lindsay’s father. He is a flat character. Busy with work, Mark doesn’t have much time for Lindsay. When they interact, it’s cliché. Worried about his daughter, he prepares to ask “the proverbial parental question: ‘Is everything all right at school?’” (64).

His passion in life is building the aqueduct that will supposedly supply America’s largest city with drinking water for the next 500 years. As inventors, Mark and Alfred Beach are foils. Mark doesn’t create an underground society, and Lindsay manages to form a nuanced connection with him when he shows her the box of items from her mom. Unlike Beach, Mark stays Topside.

Becky is Lindsay’s sidekick and imposed friend. She talks constantly, and Lindsay doesn’t know how to make her go away. Becky is a flat, static character whose defining feature is her “motormouth.” She adds humorous moments to the story. Becky is self-aware, and she thinks the flying sewer holes in Chapter 19 represent a punishment for her garrulousness. In Chapter 13, Becky has a practical purpose. She helps Lindsay find information about Beach using the library’s microfilm machine.

Todd is Lindsay’s stepbrother and an antagonistic figure. Todd’s mom joined a cult in Brooklyn, so Todd lives with Mark, though his mom had Todd before he met Mark. He has a “pretty face” but a revolting personality. He’s self-aggrandizing, taking credit for saving Lindsay’s life when he hits Talon and ties him to her bed. After Lindsay comes home at 3:00 am, Mark tells Lindsay that she can’t go anywhere without Todd, but Lindsay finds ways to escape him, like by offering to do his homework. Todd is a flat, static character who lacks any redeeming traits, and Lindsay rejoices when his mom sends him to military school to get him away from his supposedly devious stepdad.