Last Orders: Analysis of Major Characters
"Last Orders: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the intertwined lives of a group of friends grappling with loss, legacy, and the impact of their pasts. Central to the narrative is Ray Johnson, affectionately known as "Lucky," whose life experiences, including surviving World War II and navigating personal losses, shape his character. He is tasked with fulfilling the last wishes of Jack Dodds, a butcher and soldier whose untimely death from cancer prompts the journey to spread his ashes. Jack's life is marked by unfulfilled dreams and familial pressures, particularly regarding his adopted son, Vince. Vince, who rejects the family business for a more independent path, faces his own challenges, including a strained relationship with his peers and a troubled past.
The group also includes Vic Tucker, the responsible undertaker who provides stability during the trip, and Lenny Tate, a fruit and vegetable seller with a contentious relationship with Vince due to past grievances. Jack's wife, Amy, remains a poignant figure in the background, navigating her own struggles with their daughter, June. This exploration of characters highlights themes of friendship, regret, and the complexities of familial bonds, making it a rich study of human relationships set against the backdrop of significant historical events.
Last Orders: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Graham Swift
First published: 1996
Genre: Novel
Locale: London and England
Plot: Drama
Time: Mid-1960s
Ray Johnson, is one of four lifelong friends tasked with dispersing the ashes of Jack Dodds, the first of the group to die. Ray's nickname is “Lucky” (he also is called “Raysy”) both because he has great success winning money betting on race-horses and he survived combat in World War II along with Jack Dodds. Ray is a physically small man and works in an office. He is divorced from Carol, who left him for a man named Barry Stokes. Carol was his third choice as a wife; Ray preferred her sister, Daisy, as well as Amy Mitchell, who marries Jack. Ray and Carol have a daughter, Susie, who moves to Australia with a man named Andy. Ray's father was a scrap collector and Ray often joined him as he drove his horse-drawn wagon. Ray's father owned a house with a yard where Charlie Dixon, a man who works the scrap wagon with him, lived. Following his father's and Charlie's deaths, Ray lets Jack's adopted son Vince use the property to start a car repair and sales business. While driving from London to Margate to spread Jack's ashes, Ray cries while he is alone in the bathroom of a pub where the group stops for lunch.
Jack Arthur Dodds, is the member of the group of friends who has died from stomach cancer and been cremated. Like his father, Jack has been a butcher in the family business of Dodds & Son, but he secretly harbored dreams of becoming a doctor, but his father, Ronnie, forced him to follow in his shoes. Jack served in the British Army in World War II, where he met Ray Johnson and gave him the nickname “Lucky” after Ray saved his life. Jack is married to Amy Mitchell and they have a daughter, June, who is retarded and was placed in an institution soon after birth. During the war, a German flying bomb drops on a neighbors' house, killing the parents but sparing their infant child, Vince, who is taken in by Jack and Amy and raised as their son. When his butcher business was failing, Jack borrowed money, which he has to repay even though the business still isn't prospering. Paying off the loan will force him to sell the business and leave his family destitute after his death. Amy knows nothing of this. To leave Amy money to survive on, Jack borrows £1000 from Vince and asks Ray to bet it on a long-shot horse. Ray complies and wins Jack a large sum for his family. Following his death, Jack's last orders are that he be cremated and his ashes spread off the Margate Pier—hence the book's title, which does double duty as meaning the final drink order of the night at the pub frequented by the four friends.
Vincent Ian Pritchett, is the adopted son of Jack and Amy Dodds, who took him in as an infant after a German bomb fell on their house during World War II, killing both parents. Vince is married to Mandy Black, a girl he picked up hitchhiking as a teenager. Together they have a daughter named Kath. Unlike his father, Vince refuses to be forced into the family butcher business and instead opens a car-repair service on the property owned by his father's friend, Ray Johnson. The business flourishes and Vince expands from repairing cars to also selling them, renaming the operation Dodds' Auto Showroom. Vince served in the British Army and later joined the Foreign Legion and stayed away from home for five years. Vince impregnated Sally, the daughter of his father's friend Lenny Tate, but Sally aborts the baby. Vince lends Jack £1000, which Jack gives to Ray to bet on a horse. Vince secures a Mercedes 380 S Class from his dealership for the drive to spread his father's ashes off Margate Pier. En route he stops at a monument honoring the British Navy, the place where his parents met, and wishes to spread his father's ashes there, but Lenny tries to stop him and the two get into a physical altercation. Lenny, Ray, and Vic Tucker, the other three men journeying to spread Jack's ashes, don't like Vince.
Vic Tucker, is the fourth member of the group journeying to Margate Pier to spread the ashes of Jack Dodds. Vic is an undertaker and owner of Tucker & Sons, Funeral Services. He is the peacekeeper and most responsible of the group. During the trip to spread Jack Dodds' ashes off Margate Pier, Vic holds the urn most of the time, although he also passes it to Raytoholdinthecar.
Lenny Tate, is the last member of Jack Dodds'friends taking his remains to be spread in the sea. Like the others, Lenny fought in World War II, where he received the nickname “Gunner.” He has a business selling fruits and vegetables. He wife is named Joan and they have a daughter Sally. Lenny has a fistfight with Vince while on the way to disperse Jack's ashes. Lenny dislikes Vince because he impregnated Sally before enlisting in the army, causing the girl to have an abortion. Sally eventually marries Tommy Tyson, who goes to Pentonville Prison for stealing a car. Lenny has the annoying habit of addressing people as “Big Boy.”
Amy Mitchell Dodds, is Jack Dodds' wife. Although she marries Jack, Ray Johnson also has a lifelong romantic interest in her and preferred Amy to the woman he did marry. Amy gives birth to a retarded daughter named June, who is placed in an institution as an infant. Jack wants to abandon June, but Amy refuses and visits the girl twice a week via the number 44 bus, which she prefers over the train. Jack never visits June once after she is placed in a facility. Amy and Jack adopted their neighbor's infant son Vince during World War II after a German bomb falls on their house, killing both parents. Amy doesn't accompany Vince and Jack's three friends (Ray Johnson, Vic Tucker, and Lenny Tate) on the journey to spread her husband's remains off Margate Pier. She instead visits June.