The Night Wanderer

Tiffany Hunter is the protagonist of The Night Wanderer, and the novel’s third-person perspective partially features her point of view. A 16-year-old Anishinaabe girl, Tiffany spends most of the novel struggling with her identity as a teenager and as a member of the Anishinaabe community. Her many internal conflicts arise due to the ongoing tensions within her own family and because of her problematic relationship with a white boy from her school. Tiffany is struggling in school, and her failures in most of her classes cause an explosive fight with her father. This is a necessary characterization to highlight the disconnection that she feels from her peers and from the subject matter, which is presented from a distant (and culturally white) perspective rather than being centered on her interests and needs. Tiffany is minimally described physically, but her emotions are extensively explored throughout the novel; she is a round character who grows in tandem with her experiences with Pierre L’Errant. Tiffany is characterized as independent, moody, stubborn, and rebellious, but these larger personality traits reveal deeper secrets; she is also hurting and desperate for acceptance and love after the departure of her mother.