Characters

The most important characters in the short story “Safe enough” by Lee Child are Wolfe and Mary Lovell. The two characters become romantically involved after the disappearance of Mary’s rich and violent husband, Mr. Lovell. However, it soon turns out that Wolfe cannot connect with Mary Lovell once he gets to know her better and that their different backgrounds stand in the way. The conflict between them becomes a class conflict, as they use their social and economic differences against each other.

Mr. Lovell and several police officers are also mentioned in the story. Through them, readers can discover society’s attitudes to certain issues, such as domestic violence and crime.

You can read a full characterization of Wolfe and Mary Lovell in the following pages.