Starling House

Arthur is a 28-year-old man whose parents became the Wardens of Starling House when he was young. At the time of the novel, he is the Warden. His thoughts and feelings are revealed in Starling House through the use of an omniscient third-person narrator, and these sections of the novel contrast sharply with Opal’s sections, for she narrates from her own point of view. Rumors about Arthur circulate around Eden before he and Opal meet, creating a vague impression of him as a reclusive and possibly evil old man who may have been involved in the deaths of his own parents. Though Opal first sees Arthur as strange and curmudgeonly, she later learns that, like her, Arthur only lets himself focus on what he needs; as Opal states, he is “a man with a list just like [hers], with only one thing on it” (179). Arthur has sworn to be the last Warden of Starling House, making the choice to take the position so that no one else will be able to suffer the violent deaths of his parents and the other Wardens who came before him. As a result, Arthur is often cold to Opal, for he knows that she is supernaturally drawn to the house as a potential future Warden, but he is also conflicted by his growing love for her. Several times throughout the novel, he tells Opal to run away from the house and the Underland so that she will not have to suffer, but in these moments, he fails to understand that she wants to help him and be with him.

Despite choosing to be the Warden, Arthur is disdainful of the role and sometimes considers giving it up. As a child, he ran away from Starling House in an attempt to live a normal life that didn’t involve researching and fighting mythical beasts. He only returned to Starling House a few days after the deaths of his parents, and this timing led the people of Eden to believe that he knew about their deaths for days before contacting anyone. Shortly after this, Arthur tried to ignore the fact that the house was calling him to be the next Warden; he abused alcohol, and his negligence allowed a beast to get loose from the house and cause Jewell and Opal’s car accident.

In the years that follow this event, Arthur feels responsible for the deaths of Jewell and his parents; he is unable to shake this guilt even after the beasts leave Eden. At the end of the novel, however, Opal tells Arthur, “You spent a long time alone, fighting a war that wasn’t even yours [...] But it’s over now [...] It’s time to dream your own dreams” (334). With these words, she teaches him that he can move on from his past and live the life he wants to live. By the end of Starling House, Arthur, like Opal, has learned that he deserves better than spending his life wallowing in past regrets. 

Jasper is Opal’s younger brother. He was born to Jewell 10 years after Opal. Like Opal’s father, Jasper’s father was absent, and all that the siblings know about Jasper’s father is that he was a man from Managua who was staying at the Garden of Eden Motel one summer. Jasper is extremely bright and does well in school. He is also very creative and makes artistic videos in his free time. Opal believes that he is too smart to stay in Eden, so she attempts to enroll him in a prestigious boarding school without his knowledge. Jasper is one of the few people in Eden who are not white, and he faces constant microaggressions from his community due to their unfounded hatred and fear of his Latino heritage. Once he is accepted into the boarding school, they post a picture of him on the school website with the quote “It doesn’t matter where you come from—it matters where you go next” (256), highlighting the fact that he is treated like an outsider in Kentucky, even by people who claim to care for him.

Jasper is highly concerned with the idea of choice, as he is rarely able to make choices about his own life. Opal decides everything for him, making the choice to send him out of Eden without asking for his input. After Arthur warns him to leave Eden, Jasper tells him, “People have told me that my whole life, you know that? People who love me, people who hate me. All of them seem to agree that I don’t belong here” (193). Although he hates Opal’s overbearing nature, Jasper recognizes that she is trying to give him the best life she can, and he feels obligated to her because of all her efforts to provide him with a good life. Without her knowledge, Jasper begins applying to jobs and colleges with the intent of pursuing a degree that will make him enough money to repay Opal for everything she has done for him. However, Opal ultimately convinces him to do something he loves, and Jasper ends up pursuing his passion for filmmaking. Jasper is a character who parallels Opal in many ways. Both siblings feel the call of Starling House, but unlike Opal, Jasper is highly cognizant of the role that free will plays in their lives.