Gavin

Outer characterisation

Gavin's outer characterisation in “Killing Lizards” by William Boyd tells us that he is a “thin twelve-year-old boy with unusually thick eyebrows that made his face seem older than it was.” (ll. 5-6). His “oddly heavy brows” are mentioned again at the end of the story (l. 174). When he sees his father, Gavin “had his hesitant smile” (l. 95).

Gavin was most likely born in England, and he is the younger brother of Amanda. Together with Amanda and his parents, he moved to Africa two years before the action in the story takes place (ll. 69-70). In a year, he is supposed to join Amanda at her boarding school in England (ll. 8-9).

Gavin spends his time with his friends Laurence and David (l. 58), and together they kill the lizards they find around the university campus. For this purpose, Gavin makes himself a catapult (ll. 1-3).

Inner characterisation

Gavin’s inner characterisation is constructed through the narrator’s description of his thoughts, and through his language, actions, and attitude.

From the beginning of the story, we learn that Gavin does not get along anymore with his sister Amanda, because she stopped playing with him. Instead, she goes shopping with their mother, which makes Gavin feel excluded: “A conspiracy seemed to have sprung up between the women of the family from which Gavin and his father were excluded” (ll. 13-15).

Gavin feels like he hates his sister (l. 16) and fantasizes that she will be killed. As he imagines his life as an only child, he has another fantasy, in which both Amanda and his father are killed in a car crash; this makes him feel guilty (ll. 22-24). Gavin must tell this news to his mother and then console her: “As she sobbed with grief Gavin would st...