Characters

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

Stan Parker 

Stan Parker, on the surface, is a simple man, but the internal monologue Patrick White gives his protagonist paints a much more complex individual. When he is young, Stan has no faith that he can understand the world around him, whether his parents, the poetry his mother loves, the God his father worships, or his own emotions. 

He thinks, "He was no interpreter … He was nothing much. He was a man." Much of what other characters in the novel see of Stan substantiates his assessment of himself. He is seen working his land, building his house, assisting neighbors with projects on their property, rescuing people from natural disasters, or attending church services. Stan acknowledges that he's not much of a talker and doesn't enjoy the conversation or company of other men. This makes him difficult to understand, not only for strangers and acquaintances but also for his own family. 

Beyond his reliability and dedication to the tasks of farm life, Stan's soul-searching is his defining feature. Late in the novel, in church, he thinks, "It is not possible, he considered, that I shall not eventually receive a glimpse. Which made him smile luminously." 

Stan has been on a lifelong psychological journey to understand his place, negotiate his purpose, and comprehend a spiritual force at work in the universe. He has sometimes taken to religion to mitigate his need to know. 

While at the communion service, Stan begins to believe that it is simply not possible that he will never know or understand the mystery of the world. And when he is approaching his imminent death, he experiences an epiphany. As he walks through his property, he reflects: 

I believe … in the cracks in the path. On which ants were massing … But struggling. Like the painful sun in the icy sky. Whirling and whirling. But struggling. But joyful. So much so, he was trembling.

In this vision, he observes and acknowledges the details of his world and gleans a truth about life from the mundane scene. There is work, there is struggle, but there is also fulfillment. This last statement of his theology aptly describes his life as depicted in the novel. 

Amy Parker

Amy Parker marries Stan when she is young and desperate to escape a situation where she is the primary caretaker of several younger relatives. Amy can be difficult to read like her husband, though her inner monologues reveal a greater sense of frustration than Stan's. 

Amy wants to understand her husband and her children, to see inside their minds. Despite moments of affection, "there were times also when she could not read their thoughts, when their faces became like little wooden boards, promising forever to remain flat and impregnable." Amy often feels disconnected from those she loves because she cannot access their inner thoughts. 

Ironically, she is just as difficult for others to understand. White remarks, "Stan Parker would sometimes fail to recognize his wife. He would see her for the first time. He would look at her and feel. This is a different one as if she had been several."

Amy wavers between periods of satisfaction and comfort and those of restlessness, the latter of which is best represented in her affair with Leo. She has difficulty expressing her true feelings clearly to others, as seen when she rushes to leave Mrs. O'Dowd's deathbed, overcome by emotion, but is judged as cold and aloof. She expresses strong passion in her scenes with Leo and when she seeks affection from a young Ray. However, she is also known to be secretive and...

(This entire section contains 1101 words.)

Unlock this Study Guide Now

Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.

Get 48 Hours Free Access

indecipherable. 

Unlike Stan, Amy does not seem obsessed with a search for larger meaning, despite her intermittent restlessness. She can also become jealous when others are indulging in deep meditation. For example, when she tries to read Stan's thoughts when they are at the communion service, she is resentful and dismissive. 

"What is God to Stan? she wondered, at his shoulder, I do not know God, Stan will not let me… he made me like this, she said, relaxing on the cushions of her triviality. She began to think about a pudding that she would make that day…" In this quote, Amy seems aware of her shortcomings but cannot accept responsibility for them. It is easier for her to focus on mundane tasks than to seek greater truth. 

Ray Parker

The Parkers' firstborn child, Ray, is a source of great joy for Amy at first, but he grows into a restless, violent child and then a troubled adult. It is implied that Ray is responsible for the disappearance (possible death) of five puppies when he is a child and that there was some inappropriate relationship between him and the farmhand Con. Both examples suggest a disturbed child who is not suited to the simple farm life of his parents. 

He remains mostly aimless from when he is a teen, unable to decide on a trade to learn, until his murder by gunshot in an underground establishment. Ray traipses around the continent with no real goal in mind, and as a result, he becomes a grifter who is always begging his family for money and finding himself in ethical, if not legal, dilemmas. 

He proves to be an absentee father to both of the junior Rays and an unreliable romantic partner to his wife and mistress. Ray's story is tragic, but his family's legacy will continue through his sons. 

Thelma Parker Forsdyke

Thelma, the Parkers' second child, is always pale and somewhat sickly, even developing asthma at a young age. As a child, she seems weak, which results in Amy struggling to love her as intensely as she does Ray. The siblings have a contentious relationship, and Thelma is convinced early on that her brother is troubled and unreliable. However, in the family, she often plays the role of peacemaker, offering to make tea during tense moments, for example. 

Unlike her brother, Thelma knows early on what she wants from life. She becomes obsessive about her appearance and hygiene. When she is a teenager, Thelma attends business school for women in Sydney so she can enter a white-collar profession. She applies herself to her studies and gets a good job at a solicitor's office, working for Dudley Forsdyke. She is so good at her job that Dudley comes to rely on her; he can't imagine life without her, so he decides to marry her. Through this union, Thelma achieves the higher social status she desires.

Previous

Chapter Summaries

Loading...