The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey

Robyn is an eighteen-year-old orphan. Her kindness at Reggie’s funeral immediately draws Ptolemy’s interest, and she assumes the role of his caregiver. Robyn is genuinely interested in helping Ptolemy. By cleaning his apartment and sorting through the debris of his life, she gradually helps him to regain control of his mind. Ptolemy loves Robyn and sees her as his daughter. She also returns his affection and wants what’s best for him.

Everyone else assumes that Robyn is a gold digger, but she refuses to take any of Ptolemy’s money when he offers it to her. This lack of selfishness surprises her benefactor. Ultimately, he makes her the beneficiary of his hidden fortune and puts her in charge of doling out money to the rest of his family after he is gone. Robyn always seeks to do the right thing and trusts Niecie’s family more than she should. By the end of the novel, she becomes a capable administrator who will help the rest of the family in spite of themselves.

Her relationship with Ptolemy demonstrates the transformative and healing power of love. Even before taking the memory drugs, Ptolemy gains some lucidity due to Robyn’s care.

Coy is an old sharecropper who lives near Ptolemy’s family in Mississippi. He befriends the boy when Ptolemy is only six years old. Coy has been dead for eighty-five years before the novel begins, but he looms large in Ptolemy’s memories and imagination. Coy functions as the voice of Ptolemy’s conscience, often giving wise advice through dreams.

The day before he died, Coy stole a large number of gold coins from the wealthiest white man in the county. His motives were altruistic; he saw the gold as ill-gotten gain at the expense of Black slaves. Coy intends to keep only a small number of coins for himself, and tells Ptolemy to use the money in later years to help poor, downtrodden Black people. An angry white mob lynches Coy for not revealing where he hid the treasure. Although it takes another eight decades, Ptolemy eventually fulfills Coy’s request and distributes the money to his family and friends in Los Angeles to give them a better life.

Melinda Hogarth is a Black woman in her fifties who lives down the block from Ptolemy. She has been terrorizing him for years. Whenever he leaves his apartment, she threatens to beat him up unless he gives her money. Ptolemy hates her and describes her as a “wino drug addict” (180). She has stolen money from Ptolemy’s apartment but never realizes the hoard of wealth the flat actually contains. On multiple occasions, she threatens Ptolemy, only to be beaten by his friends. Melinda is a bully who cowers whenever her victim fights back. She begins to fear Ptolemy after seeing Alfred emerge from his apartment with gunshot wounds.

Ptolemy sees the doctor as “a white man of medium height, age, and build. He had a great mustache that made Ptolemy smile and beady green eyes that were not at all off-putting.” (125).

Bryant is conducting research on an experimental memory drug that is illegal in the States. He offers Ptolemy a chance to get his memory back but says that the drug will shorten his life. Bryant wants to dissect Ptolemy’s remains after his death to learn how to improve the drug’s effectiveness for future patients. Ptolemy frequently describes the doctor as Satan or the devil because he deals in death. Ruben’s intervention helps Ptolemy to regain his mind for a brief period and right some past wrongs.

Niecie is Ptolemy’s grandniece. She seems to feel some affection for Ptolemy and sends her nephew, Reggie, to look after him. When Reggie dies, she sends her son Hilly to care for Ptolemy.

Niecie acts as the family matriarch. She adopts Robyn and takes care of Reggie’s two children when their mother goes off with her boyfriend Alfred. She has a blind spot when it comes to her ne’er do well son Hilly, excusing his theft of Ptolemy’s social security money. Niecie shows her true colors when Ptolemy leaves his vast fortune to Robyn instead of her. She is resentful and sends Robyn away. Robyn doesn’t hold a grudge and will make sure that Niecie gets a fair share of Ptolemy’s fortune. If their roles were reversed, it is doubtful that Niecie would do the same.

Hilly is Niecie’s oafish son. He only takes care of Ptolemy grudgingly and steals money from him at the first opportunity. He is relieved of his duties when Robyn takes over, but Ptolemy needs him in order to track down Reggie’s killer. Hilly supplies Ptolemy with bullets to avoid paying him back for the money he stole. He is materialistic, selfish, and not very bright. Hilly is often Ptolemy’s comic foil. His lack of intelligence highlights Ptolemy’s savvy after Ptolemy regains his memory.

Nine is Reggie’s beautiful wife. She is vain and selfish, thinking more of her attachment to Alfred than the welfare of her own family. She leaves her two children at Niecie’s house to go off with Alfred. She doesn’t learn that her boyfriend killed her husband until after the fact. Ptolemy uses her greed to get her to confess that Alfred was the killer. He also makes her promise to take care of her children in the future. Given her weak character, this promise may be worthless.