Characters

The main characters in the short story “The …

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The boy

The boy narrator is the main character in the short story. One of the first elements you should note is that the story does not offer many details when it comes to his outer characterisation. We do not know the boy’s age or what he looks like; instead, the only thing we know about him is that he is in school and that his mother has sent him to buy groceries (ll. 41-43). However, given the boy’s fascination with the Whaler and his obsession with heroes, we can assume that he is rather young, probably about 10 years old.

Inner characterisation

The boy’s inner characterisation is revealed as soon as he sees the Whaler on the field. The boy remembers hearing stories about the Whaler’s courage and admits that he has made the man his idol:

It was the Whale…

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The Whaler

The Whaler is the second most important character in the story.

Outer characterisation

His outer characterisation reveals that the man is a whaler, which means that he hunts whales for a living. Also, he “lived alone and drank alone” (ll. 29-30) and his handshake is rather soft (ll. 66-67). When the boy imagines the Whaler, the man is depicted as being a “hero, magician and priest” (l. 7) and God-like (ll. 6-7), having “great arms and (…) wide shoulders” (ll. 21-22). When the boy meets the man, he realises that he is nothing like the product of his imagination. Furthermore, the man is found in a humiliating position, while…