Who is Big Mike Carney

Big Mike Carney's character symbolizes the past. Throughout the novel, Carney does everything in his power not to become his father. He does not want to repeat the past, and believes this is possible if he invents an identity outside of his father. However, Big Mike's presence haunts the novel's pages and thus Carney's consciousness. In this way, Carney's past is ever-present and inescapable.