Shuttlecock (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Graham Swift
- First Published: 1981
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Detective and mystery
- Time of Work: c. 1980
- Setting: London, England
- Genres: Long fiction, Mystery and detective literature
- Subjects: Self-discovery, Parents and children, Crime or criminals, Police, 1980’s, England or English people, Fathers, Blackmail, Truth, Detectives, London
- Locales: London, England
Characters Discussed
Prentis, the narrator, a senior clerk in a London police bureau that handles information on closed and unsolved cases. In his early thirties, secretive, and self- consciously prickly—almost paranoid—with a tyrannical and sadistic streak, he also has a capacity and craving for affection that leave him hurt by his sons’ lack of interest and respect and his wife’s quiet withdrawal. He has been unable to live up to his own father’s heroic image after reading his wartime memoirs at the age of eleven. Prentis’ confused adult relationship to “Dad,”...
[The entire page is 640 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
