A Quiet Life (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Beryl Bainbridge
- First Published: 1976
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Domestic realism
- Time of Work: Post-World War II
- Setting: Southport, England
- Genres: Long fiction, Domestic realism
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Values, Family or family life, Memory, Parents and children, Adolescence, Teenagers, Abused persons, Middle classes, 1940’s, Alienation, Emotions, England or English people
- Locales: Southport, England
Characters Discussed
Alan, the protagonist. The central consciousness in this novel, seventeen-year-old Alan copes with his family’s eccentric and crippling barrage of insults and recriminations. In many instances, he functions as mediator for his father and mother. He also shields his sister from his parents’ unreasonable treatment, yet he often resents their random favoring of her. He tries to provide a certain stability for his family, but he faces monumental patterns of dysfunctional behavior. He is attracted to Janet, a classmate, but is unable to understand how she...
[The entire page is 870 words long]
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