Lee is a social outcast, a heavy drinker, and lacking financially,which contributes to his violent temper. Lee is his own worst enemy and he takes it out on every one around him. His brother, Austin, reminds him of all that he is not.

His family is not stable, either. He is estranged from his father, and extremely jealous of his brother. The violence between the brothers is apparently been allowed to occur, as evidenced by their mother's reactions to it.

Lee does not even attempt to change his circumstances, he dresses in sloppy and tattered clothes, and finds theft an acceptable manner of obtaining an income.

When an opportunity for a true career comes along, his own fear of ineptness causes him to shy away from it. He hates that he needs his brother's help to make writing a screenplay a possibility.