Characters

The main character of the short story “Fusilli” by Graham Swift is an unnamed father, and the narration is focused on his point of view. The man’s wife, Jenny, and their son, Doug, are secondary characters. They do not appear directly in the story, but we get to know them through the father's thoughts and flashbacks.  

The father

We do not know much about the father's outer characterisation. He states that 15 or 20 years ago, he was visiting children stores with his wife and his son, who was a toddler at the time (l. 88). Given his son’s age, we can assume the father is now middle aged.

The fact that he remains unnamed might suggest that he is meant to be a universal character, who represents any parent who is trying to deal with the loss of their child.

Concerning the father's inner characterisation, his relationship with his son seems to have been a typical father-son relationship. The father was involved in his son’s childhood, going with his family to children stores (l. 90), giving him childhood nicknames (l. 90), and buying him Christmas gifts he thought were appropriate for boys, possibly such as toy guns (l. 81). The father states that he felt proud that his son was not a noisy child (l. 101), and after Doug grew up, the father states that he was also proud of his “soldier-son” (l. 102).

The pride he feels towards his son as a soldier is also...