Characters

Mr. Enderby

Mr. Enderby is one of the main characters in the short story "The Music Room" by Stephen King. There are no explicit descriptions of Mr. Enderby’s outer characterization. Since he is supposed to represent the man from Edward Hopper’s painting, “Room in New York”, we get a sense of what he looks like. The man in the painting is tall, with dark hair. He is wearing a suit. He used to have a business with his wife called “Enderby Enterprises” (p. 122, l. 20). However, their business was forced to close down two years previously due to dire economic circumstances caused by the Great Depression. We know he must be educated, since he can quote plays (p. 124, ll. 11-12). He is also a great fan of comic strips.  

Inner characterization

Mr. Enderby is described as gregarious (p. 121, l. 34). He is the one who scouts for businessmen in bars and invites them home to dinner under the pretext of friendship or possible business partnerships. For this reason, Mr. Enderby is also perceptive, as he has an easy time “singling out businessmen who were alone in the city” (p. 121, ll. 34-35), by judging them based on the way they dress.

Mr. Enderby seems to be a violent and resentful man. When Mrs. Enderby complains about the noise made by Timmons, Mr. Enderby offers to murder him (p. 123, ll. 7-10). This is in part motivated by his wish to eliminate the source of his wife’s annoyance, but he also argues that Timmons is “ ‘from Albany, and people who come from there get what they deserve’ ” (p. 124, l. 4). Therefore, Mr. Enderby seems to despise and want to punish rich people who come from wealthy areas. This sentiment might be heightened by the dire econ...