Character Relationship Map: The Lighthouse

Characters

• Thomas Howard (played by Robert Pattinson) — protagonist

  Plot protagonist who is hired under the false name Ephraim Winslow as a lighthouse keeper. A former timberman from Maine who worked in Canada, he reveals his real name is Thomas Howard and that he del...

• Thomas Wake (played by Willem Dafoe) — protagonist

  Veteran lighthouse keeper and former sailor who supervises the newcomer as a demanding superior, subjecting him to taxing chores and barring him from the lantern room, where he disrobes before the lig...

• Mermaid (played by Valeriia Karaman) — supporting

  A hallucinatory figure in Howard's visions. He discovers a small scrimshaw of a mermaid in his quarters and keeps it in his jacket, masturbating to it. During the storm, he discovers the beached body...

• Ephraim Winslow (played by Logan Hawkes) — supporting

  The real Ephraim Winslow was Howard's cruel foreman in Canada, whom Howard deliberately allowed to drown during a log drive before assuming his identity. Howard uses this name throughout the film, and...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Thomas Howard → Mermaid (Romantic Sexual Fixation) — His desire centers on a mermaid image and later expands into visions.

  Howard keeps a small mermaid scrimshaw in his jacket and masturbates to it.

• Thomas Howard → Ephraim Winslow (Professional Former Foreman) — Winslow previously held workplace authority over Howard.

  Howard confesses that Ephraim Winslow was his cruel foreman in Canada during a log drive.

• Thomas Wake → Thomas Howard (Professional Supervisor) — Wake is Howard's appointed supervisor at the isolated lighthouse.

  Thomas Howard begins a four-week stint as a wickie under the supervision of former sailor Thomas Wake.

Story Analysis

An isolated keeper's descent into guilt, domination, hallucination, and fatal obsession with the forbidden light.

Plot Progression

1. A Keeper Under Watch — Thomas Howard arrives for a temporary lighthouse assignment under the demanding supervision of Thomas Wake. Wake controls the labor and the lantern room while Howard encounters the mermaid scrimshaw a...
2. Storm over the Island — A dead gull contaminates the cistern, and Howard kills the one-eyed gull despite Wake's superstition. The wind changes, the storm prevents their departure, and the men discover that their isolation ha...
3. Drunken Captivity — The supposed ration crate contains alcohol, leading Howard and Wake into nightly drunkenness and unstable intimacy. Howard becomes increasingly obsessed with the forbidden lantern room and considers m...
4. The Confession and Ruin — Howard confesses that he is really Thomas Howard and that he allowed the real Ephraim Winslow to drown. Wake destroys the escape dory, the cottage is damaged by a wave, and Wake's logbook turns their...
5. Light and Punishment — Howard attacks and apparently buries Wake, but Wake returns and strikes him with an axe. Howard kills Wake, enters the lantern room, falls after confronting the lens, and ends barely alive on the rock...