As an adult, Pete is characterized as competent and compassionate. As the farmhand, Pete knows the family well and knows the storm protocols. He helps everyone into the storm cellar, comforts Beth in her worry about her husband, Link, and takes charge of the situation in the other man’s absence. Pete is the storyteller, and the sections of the narrative that take place in the past focus on his childhood experiences with his dog, Tornado. Pete is initially characterized through action. He demonstrates leadership by shouting “Twister” and then ushering the family into the storm cellar. He is also portrayed as kind and perceptive. He helps the grandmother into the cellar, speaks kindly to Beth when she hesitates because her husband is out in the cornfield, and offers the children the story of Tornado to take their minds off the imminent danger of the storm.

Pete functions as the protagonist of the novel. Most of the narrative is in his words because he tells all the stories that take place in the past in first person. He is also the protagonist in the sense that he is the most complex character and the only one who has a clear character arc during the novel.