Jumping off of what Jack wrote…

I know we were divided in class about how blameworthy Christopher’s dad was, but I actually thought that his dad was my favorite character in the book. Sure, I loved Christopher (I think it’s a little hard not to love and sympathize with Christopher), but I felt like Christopher’s dad was the most “real” character in the book. He was doing his best to hold it together, and I think his efforts were admirable – especially when you think about what he was dealing with. He had an autistic child, and although he clearly loved Christopher, life with Christopher couldn’t have been easy. His wife decided that she would rather be with the next-door neighbor in London than with her son – and she didn’t deal well with Christopher even when she was there. The wife of the aforementioned next-door neighbor spends a lot of time with Christopher’s dad after their spouses take off together, and then companionship helps him through his wife’s departure. But Mrs. Shears isn’t interested in being a part of his life in the long run, and she leaves too, which means that Christopher’s dad is once again left completely alone to care for Christopher, with no person there to offer him support or be an outlet when things get difficult. That’s a lot to deal with, and while he may have snapped and made a few mistakes (lying to Christopher about his mom, killing Wellington), I think his reaction is very human. He tries his hardest to pick up the pieces of those mistakes, and I think one of the saddest moments in the book (in my mind, at least) comes when he goes to see Christopher in London, and starts to cry when Christopher won’t put his hand on his father’s. Christopher’s dad may have been flawed, but he was trying so hard to be a good father to Christopher and I think that these internal conflicts made him easily the most compelling character in the story.