The Green Man: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Green Man: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complex interplay of relationships and personal struggles faced by the protagonist, Maurice Allington, an inn-keeper in Hertfordshire. At fifty-three, Maurice grapples with the aftermath of his first wife's departure and the challenges of his second marriage to Joyce, who remains emotionally distant. Their daughter, Amy, embodies teenage isolation, needing guidance but lacking connection with her parents. The narrative is further enriched by Maurice's obsession with Diana Maybury, the wife of his physician, highlighting his inner turmoil and quest for fulfillment.
The story introduces several apparitions, each reflecting Maurice's deteriorating mental state and historical grievances, including Dr. Thomas Underhill, a malevolent spirit with a dark past. The dynamics of Maurice's family are further complicated by his son, Nick, and his daughter-in-law, Lucy, who offer contrasting perspectives on family and support. Lucy stands out as the only character who engages meaningfully with Maurice, providing a semblance of companionship. Overall, this analysis explores themes of loneliness, desire, and the haunting nature of the past as seen through the lens of its multifaceted characters.
The Green Man: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Kingsley Amis
First published: 1969
Genre: Novel
Locale: Fareham, in Hertfordshire, and Cambridge
Plot: Ghost
Time: The late 1960's
Maurice Allington, the narrator, the fifty-three-year-old inn-keeper of The Green Man in Hertfordshire. He was abandoned, three years earlier, by his first wife after twenty-two years of marriage. She took their ten-year-old daughter, Amy, with her. When the woman died in an automobile accident, however, he recovered custody. Since then, he has not been able to discover much common ground with Amy or to interest his second wife in taking over the role of mother. Moreover, this second marriage is not providing significantly more companionship than did the first. Maurice drinks to excess (more than a bottle of whiskey a day) and typically spends much of his time trying to figure out ways in which to avoid his wife. From the outset of the novel, he lusts after the wife of his physician; as soon as he succeeds in seducing her, he immediately begins plotting a sexual threesome involving his wife and this woman. To make matters worse, his eighty-year-old father, who lives with them, has just suffered a third stroke, and a series of mishaps threatens the operation of the inn. At this point, several apparitions appear, almost exclusively to Allington and apparently somehow related to his state of mind. There are three particular apparitions: a red-haired woman, supposedly murdered by her husband in the 1680's; Dr. Thomas Underhill, the alleged murderer of the woman and at least one other, whose spirit is still trying to work evil even after death; and The Green Man, composed of vegetation and capable of acting out his controller's will.
Joyce Allington, the second wife of Maurice. An attractive, willowy woman of roughly fifty, Joyce is not entirely committed to helping Maurice keep the books for the inn and rear his daughter. In fact, there is little interaction between the couple beyond their weekly sexual bouts, which hardly transcend the physical.
Amy Allington, Maurice's thirteen-year-old daughter. Withdrawn, preoccupied, and alienated like most early teenagers, Amy spends most of her time by herself, listening to mindless music and watching mindless television. She clearly needs and wants parental direction and love, and just as clearly she has little basis for communication with adults. Her isolation makes her vulnerable.
Diana Maybury, the wife of Jack, Maurice's physician. Almost a carbon copy of Joyce Allington, she is nevertheless pursued by Maurice, even though he is unimpressed with either her intellect or her character. She gives in readily, revealing in the process that she hates her husband and is looking for diversion.
Nick Allington, Maurice's twenty-four-year-old son, an assistant lecturer in French literature at a university in the Midlands. Nick is prompt to come to his father's assistance and speaks openly and frankly with him, but their relationship is not particularly close. Nick does understand both his father's use of alcohol to insulate himself and his sister's need of reaffirmation and support.
Lucy Allington, Nick's wife, a student in her mid-twenties. Maurice has, at the outset of the novel, seen little appealing in her, yet she is almost alone in taking his complaints and symptoms seriously. In fact, she is the only woman in the story with whom Maurice really converses; he learns companionship through her.
Dr. Thomas Underhill, the spirit of malice haunting The Green Man. Having discovered that his magic gives him power over others, he begins by using it to extort sexual favors from young girls, then progresses to conjuring up evil powers to destroy those who oppose him.
The Young Man, a final apparition who appears only near the end, when it begins to look as if Maurice alone can oppose the reemergence of Dr. Underhill. Apparently twenty-eight years old, fair, pale, and prosperous looking but otherwise undistinguished, his appearance is accompanied by a suspension of time, molecular motion, and even radiation. He claims in so many words to be God himself; the object of his visitation is to appoint Maurice as God's champion in the upcoming struggle with Underhill.