The Narrator

The narrator of the novel is an unnamed pre-adolescent boy who lives with his older brother and his abusive father. He is somewhat of a social outcast and gets picked on at school. As a result of his abusive relationship with his father, he also begins to fall into patterns of abuse himself at a young age. He at first believes his father was justified in the beatings of his mother, and shows signs of taking after his father in regards to drug use and treatment of women. However, he has a strong moral compass in spite of his father’s poor example, and is eventually able to break free from his father’s manipulative ways.

He feels a strong sense of allegiance toward his father in spite of his constant lying and emotional manipulation. At several times throughout the novel he commits acts that he knows...