44 pages • 1 hour read
Freida McFaddenWard D
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Amy Brenner
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses drug misuse, child abuse and neglect, and stigmatizing tropes that connect mental health conditions to criminal behavior, which Ward D portrays.
Amy Brenner is the protagonist and first-person narrator of Ward D. She is a third-year medical student doing her psychiatry rotation. When she was 16, she experienced a traumatic situation that shaped her current opinion on psychiatry and caused her to fear Ward D. At the beginning of the novel, Amy is presented as a diligent, intelligent woman who never questions authority, a respectful student and daughter. She does her best to behave, which seems rooted in her childhood desire to please everyone and find success. However, there are cracks in her perfect persona as seen in her anger toward her ex-boyfriend, Cameron Berger—who broke up with her in order to ensure his own success.
When Amy reunites with a former friend, Jade Carpenter, in Ward D, she is unsettled. She is reminded of Jade’s penchant for violence, as she tortured their math teacher, Mr. Riordan, when they were 16, as well as her own sightings of a young girl who pushed her to shoplift and cheat. These memories contrast Amy’s perfect persona in the present with that of her confusing, frightening past. She questions her mental state in both the past and present, which culminates in her learning Jade and Damon’s plot to burn down Ward D in the present. Due to the novel taking place over the course of one night, she shows little growth besides finally trusting Will and overpowering Jade. Despite Jade admitting to slipping a hallucinogen into her peach iced teas in the past, Amy continues to see the young girl, who whispers of violence—complicating her character as a heroic survivor.
Jade Carpenter
Jade Carpenter is the main antagonist of the novel, with her boyfriend Damon (who initially masquerades as Dr. Beck) being her partner in crime. She is Amy’s childhood friend, who was later diagnosed with hereditary Bipolar I (as her mother, whom she killed, had the same mental health condition)—which drives her manic behavior. She began to show symptoms at 16, suddenly changing from a diligent, intelligent student to someone who steals, commits acts of violence, and associates with a drug dealer (Damon). Jade’s behavior is initially framed as the result of her mother’s abuse—which is likely a factor—but when Amy looks back on the past, she sees other warning signs that she missed.
In the present, Jade has yet to find proper treatment for her mental health condition and plans to burn down Ward D to escape with Damon—killing Cameron, patient Mary, the real Dr. Beck, and nurse Ramona in the process. The plan is flawed, speaking to the lack of logic and sense of grandiosity that often come with mania. Despite Jade’s malice toward Amy and those she threatened in the past (the girls’ math teacher, Mr. Riordan, and bank employees), Amy believes she could have changed Jade’s story had she intervened sooner. However, like Amy’s guilt over Cameron, this sentiment is wavering, leaving the final evaluation of Jade as both victim and perpetrator up to readers.
Will Schoenfeld
Will Schoenfeld is a patient in Ward D who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after claiming to hear voices. Amy seeks him out as her chosen patient to follow within her first hours in Ward D. However, he is aloof and refuses to answer all her questions, leaving her with the impression that he is deceptive and potentially dangerous. This causes a level of distrust that persists throughout the novel. Will is a red herring, someone whom Amy doubts due to him hiding his pills. She later assumes he’s Jade’s boyfriend, only for him to reveal he’s a reporter investigating Ward D. Later, he is accused of killing Mary. All of this misdirection makes him both ally and antagonist to Amy. In the end, Will proves a reporter whose article about Ward D goes viral, inspiring a book. He enters a romantic relationship with Amy, but might be vulnerable to her future impulses.
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By Freida McFadden
