Characters

The main characters in the story “The False Moon” by Shirley Golden are Matt and his mother, Kay. Secondary characters are the girl who completes Matt’s graffiti and Dan, Kay’s boyfriend. In what follows, we will help you characterise Matt and Kay, and we will focus on their relationship. 

Matt

Matt is the protagonist of the short story.

Outer characterisation

His outer characterisation shows that he is a teenager with looks more common for a girl:

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Inner characterisation

Matt’s inner characterisation reveals that he longs for his mother’s attention and affection. As a matter of fact, he longed for her affection even when he was a small child: “I liked to kid myself she would stop me if I didn’t sneak out of the house.” (l. 6); “When I was a kid, I used to wait in the dark, willing the chink of light to filter onto my face.” (p. 2, ll. 1-2)

On the one hand, he is unhappy because his mother does not check on him and is not interested in his whereabouts. On the other hand, he came to despise her because of her alcoholism and since she made a move on Matt’s friend while drunk: “I wander the streets and, if I need to, I tell her I’m at Mark’s. She doesn’t know I haven’t seen him since the night she fumbled to kiss him, and struck me with a bottle when I called her a whore.” (ll. 105-108)

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Kay

Kay is Matt’s mother. She is probably a widow or separated, and she has a boyfriend named Dan.

Outer characterisation

Her outer characterisation is given during a discussion between her and her son.

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Inner characterisation

Her inner characterisation reveals that she is a self-centered woman who does not care about her son. What is more, she looks forward to the day in which Matt can find a job and take care of himself:

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Matt’s relationship with his mother

“The False Moon” presents the way in which a defective parent-child relationship can come to destroy a family and impact the child.

The most representative image which presents the main character’s relationship with his mother is a sketch in his notepad:

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