Character Analysis
Ned Winsett, a journalist, is one of Archer's less conventional friends. He's part of the same bohemian crowd that Madame Olenska frequents, and he and his family even live on her block. Winsett is the voice of the rest of America in the novel. Winsett believes that Archer and his class are irrelevant to modern American society, and unless they make themselves relevant in some way— by using their economic and social power for the greater good, for example— they will be about as relevant as a portrait in an empty house (14.24).
Winsett, like Monsieur Rivière, is a failed novelist. He had to turn to journalism to make ends meet when his literary ambitions failed. Like Monsieur Rivière, Winsett reminds Archer of the sacrifices that have to be made to pursue a literary life— sacrifices that Archer is ultimately unwilling to make.