Mr Henderson

Mr Henderson is secondary character in Beejay Silcox's “Slut Trouble”. He is Megan’s father and Lisa Henderson’s ex-husband. Mr Henderson’s outer characterisation is very brief: “I wear a brown suit jacket that smells of Mr Henderson – wet leather, dried leaves, smoke.” (ll. 105-106)

Mr Henderson’s inner characterisation is constructed through his language and through the narrator’s (Laura's) words. Mr Henderson generally makes comments which are demeaning to women. For example, he states his ex-wife’s pillows made him feel “like he was living in a house of ill repute” (l. 58). Here, the implication is that his ex-wife is a promiscuous woman, which probably has to do with the fact that she left him for another man. Thus, Mr Henderson seems bitter towards his ex-wife.

However, Mr Henderson is clearly prejudiced against women in general and makes misogynistic comments: he believes that dyed hair “looks cheap and nasty” (ll. 12-13), and blames Kimberly for being kidnapped:

Mr Henderson says that only sluts get into the kind of trouble Kimberly Watson has clearly gotten herself into.
‘What kind of trouble is that?’ I ask him.
‘Slut trouble, Laura, slut trouble.’ (ll....