Previous
Quotes
Helen Macdonald
Helen Macdonald is the memoirist of H Is for Hawk. The daughter of working-class parents, she excels in her education and eventually earns a degree from Cambridge University, where she becomes a professor for…
read analysis of Helen Macdonald
T. H. White
Terence Hanbury (Tim) White was a British author and self-taught falconer whose writings both inspire and haunt Helen Macdonald during the year she acquires and trains Mabel. Born in 1906 in India to very…
read analysis of T. H. White
Mabel (Macdonald’s Goshawk)
Helen Macdonald’s goshawk, Mabel, was hatched in the breeder’s aviary in Northern Ireland. Compared to the rest of her species, she’s a relatively small and notably well-tempered bird, as noted by Macdonald and…
read analysis of Mabel (Macdonald’s Goshawk)
Gos
Gos, T. H. White’s goshawk, was hatched wild in a forest in Germany, from which he was subsequently captured and shipped 1,500 miles to rural England. He lived with White for a period of…
read analysis of Gos
Father
Helen Macdonald’s father was born and raised in London. The earliest years of his childhood passed during World War II, and in part because of this he developed a lifelong habit of plane spotting…
read analysis of Father
Get the entire H is for Hawk LitChart as a printable PDF.
Stuart
Stuart is Helen Macdonald’s friend. An experienced falconer, after she adopts Mabel, he also serves as Macdonald’s “goshawk guru.” He’s thus involved in most phases of Mabel’s training, including the first time Macdonald…
read analysis of Stuart
Christina
Christina is Helen Macdonald’s friend. She’s with Macdonald when Macdonald learns of her father’s death, and she drives to Scotland with Macdonald to get Mabel from the breeder. Christina plays an important…
read analysis of Christina
Merlyn
Merlyn is a character in T. H. White’s novels The Sword in the Stone and The Once and Future King. In White’s version of the life of King Arthur, Merlyn was born in…
read analysis of Merlyn
Wart
The Wart is the name given to the King Arthur character during his childhood in T. H. White’s novels The Sword in the Stone and The Once and Future King. When he gets…
read analysis of Wart
Minor Characters
Mother
Helen Macdonald’s mother was a newspaper reporter during Macdonald’s childhood. Along with MacDonald’s father, she encouraged Macdonald’s interest in falconry. She tries to maintain a connection with her daughter in the wake of the father’s death but struggles at times to penetrate Macdonald’s all-consuming grief.
Mandy
Mandy is Stuart’s wife and Helen Macdonald’s friend. She is a source of support to Macdonald in the wake of her father’s death and while she trains the young Mabel.
The Breeder
The breeder lives and breeds goshawks in Northern Ireland. He brings Mabel to Helen Macdonald by ferry. In his kindness toward the birds in his care, he briefly appears to the grieving Macdonald as a father figure.
Erin
Erin is one of Helen Macdonald’s oldest American friends. They met in Wales and bonded over their shared love of falconry. Erin and his family host Macdonald and her mother for Christmas the year Macdonald’s father dies.
Scott McNeff
Scott McNeff is one of Helen Macdonald’s American friends. In the summer, he sells ice cream to tourists; in the fall and winter, he trains and flies wild hawks.
