Characterisation of the couple

The main characters of the short story “To Feed the Night” by Philip Hensher are the husband, the wife, and Mr Bell, the real estate agent. The couple’s friends are also mentioned in the story, but they are not relevant to the way the action develops. They are mainly important because they symbolise a rational point of view and because they represent the voices of the couple’s conscience. In this part, we will offer you a few ideas that can help you with the characterisation of the husband, the wife, and Mr Bell.

The husband

The husband is one of the main characters of the story. His outer characterisation is very brief and reveals that he is “twenty-six” (l. 2) and that he earns “thirteen thousand pounds a year” (l. 3). He is also married to a woman two years younger than him and at the beginning of the story they live a modest life on their small income:

His wife earned eleven thousand pounds a year. He earned thirteen thousand pounds a year. The amount of money they had borrowed to buy this narrow and depressing place was as much as any firm would lend them. This was all they deserved. (ll. 32-36)

Inner characterisation

When it comes to his inner characterisation, the first thing that the story reveals about him is the man’s pride and snobbery; although he knows that the apartment he lives in is “narrow” (l. 34) and “depressing” (l. 35), he still brags about being able to “get on to the property ladder” (l. 14):

‘You want to get on to the property ladder,’ the man said, as if advising their guests. ‘If you leave it too long, you won’t be able to afford to buy anything, you’ll be left behind, and you’ll never ever be able to buy anything at all.’ (ll. 14-17)

The man’s pride can also be connected to the presence of one of his former girlfriends and of a man his wife used to know. His desire to impress them is probably also what makes him feel greedy when he has the opportunity to choose a larger flat.

Although he insists several times that he has just bought a flat, the man is easily persuaded by the real estate agent, Mr Bell, to go and see a larger property.

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The wife

The wife is another main character in the short story “To Feed the Night”. Her outer characterisation reveals that she is “twenty-four” (l. 2) and that she “earned eleven thousand pounds a year” (ll. 2-3), which is less than her husband earns. In fact, the reference to their income is repeated three times in the story to show that the couple is neither rich nor poor, but earns a steady mid-level financial income.

Inner characterisation

The wife’s inner characterisation is revealed in comparison to her husband’s. At first, she comes across as a show-off, exactly like her husband, as she enjoys bragging about their new flat in front of her friends.

When her husband talks about moving into a new and larger apartment, she is reluctant at first, but she soon accepts. The following extract shows that she is a pushover and that she does not even try to convince her husband that moving into a new property does not make sense:

‘Why not?’ he said. ‘It’s very nice. And we could do with more space.’
‘What for?’ his wife said.
‘If we had a child,’ he said. ‘For instance. It’s very nice. It’s a real bargain.’
‘If you think it’s a good idea,’ she said, in the end. (ll. 96-100)

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