Mary

Outer characterization

Mary is one of the main characters of the short story “Bedtimes” by Tim Parks. She is married to Thomas, and she is most likely middle-aged, as she has a teenage son (l. 20) and a daughter in college (ll. 43-44). 

Mary is interested in dogs and reads books about them, which she finds “fascinating” (l. 99). She also has a dog named Ricky (l.6). She has made some “friends from the dog park” (ll. 31-32) and enjoys going out with them. 

Inner characterization

Mary believes that her husband is cheating on her: “Mary joins him at 11:30 and hardly cares whether he is asleep or not, since she has nothing to say to a man who she believes is having an affair” (ll. 39-41). Because of this, she is resentful and avoids spending time with him. 

To avoid talking about her suspicions and conf...