Going to Meet the Man Characters & Character Analysis

Going to Meet the Man Characters

Johnappears in The Rockpile and The Outing

John is the eldest child of the Grimes family. In The Rockpile, the reader learns that John is not the son of Gabriel Grimes, the patriarch of the family, but a child from a previous relationship Elizabeth Grimes had. It is unclear if John is aware of his illegitimacy, but it is clear that Gabriel is aware of it and it makes him very unhappy. For this reason, John is often the object of his father's anger and abuse.

John is the elder child, therefore in the Rockpile he is expected to keep his younger brother, Roy, from playing on a rockpile across the street from their apartment building. Roy, however, has a mind of his own and decides to go over anyway. John allows him to go when he promises to be gone only five minutes. However, John becomes engrossed in a drawing...
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