Michael

12-year-old Michael is the protagonist. He lives in Delaware in 1999. He is defined by his intense anxiety and his longing for control in a world that constantly reminds him of uncertainty. From the opening chapters, he is portrayed as cautious, methodical, and fearful of taking risks. His obsession with Y2K becomes a metaphor for his wider fear of the unknown. By building a stockpile of supplies, Michael believes he can protect himself and his mother from disaster, but his preparation also isolates him. He spends so much time worrying about what might happen that he struggles to participate fully in ordinary life. This tendency to focus on imagined future dangers shapes both his actions and his relationships.

Michael’s fear of the future mirrors his guilt about the past. He blames himself for his mother Gloria losing her job at the grocery store, wrongly believing that his...