The boyfriend

The boyfriend is a cultured man

An important character in Kate London’s short story “We Do Not Deal in Guilt or Blame” is the narrator’s boyfriend. He works as a teacher at a drama school in London and is “so much older” (l. 13) than the narrator, most likely in his 30s. He is described as being “very tall, about six foot four” (l. 1) and dressed in unconventional clothes such as hand-stitched leather shoes and a huge grey felt hat (ll. 14-16). He is also probably a vegan (ll. 16-18).

The boyfriend seems to be a cultivated man as he works as a teacher, quotes Dante in Italian, watches old films, listens to exotic blues music, and reads a lot. Because of this, he introduces the narrator to different things that she has not experienced before. In this way, he appears to have been her ticket to a bet...