The Right to an Answer: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Right to an Answer: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complex lives of several characters as they navigate the moral landscape of postwar Britain. The central character, J. W. Denham, is a well-off manager stationed in Tokyo who returns to England and is troubled by what he perceives as a decline in social values. Denham’s observations highlight a society where casual relationships and excessive drinking have become commonplace. Mr. Raj, a Ceylonese student, represents the colonial legacy and strives for interracial harmony, yet his efforts lead to tragic consequences, including the death of Denham's father and a violent confrontation with Alice Winter's husband.
Other notable characters include Ted Arden, the owner of the Black Swan pub, who embodies the traditional publican role, and William Winter, whose own marital troubles reflect the shifting norms of sexuality and fidelity. Imogen Everett, Winter's mistress, further complicates the narrative with her tough demeanor and unorthodox approach to survival. The interplay between these characters reveals broader themes of moral decay, the clash of cultures, and the repercussions of personal decisions. This overview serves as a lens into the social critique embedded within the character dynamics and their collective journeys.
The Right to an Answer: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Anthony Burgess
First published: 1960
Genre: Novel
Locale: A London suburb, Ceylon, and Tokyo
Plot: Social satire
Time: After World War II, probably the late 1950's
J. W. Denham, the central character and narrator, a forty-year-old, well-to-do, upper-level manager for a British trading company, currently posted to Tokyo. Returning to England on one of his biennial four-month vacations, he finds himself bemused by the social and moral decline characteristic of life in Britain. He considers the deterioration of standards to be brought about by postwar democratic leveling to the lowest common denominator. On this visit to his aging father, now retired in a suburb of a Midlands city, he becomes even more aware of this omnipresent venality. At the local pub, the Black Swan, he observes that casual wife-swapping has become almost acceptable, the fling to which everyone is entitled; the only other recreations are tasteless, imported American television and drinking to the point of senselessness. He much prefers the elite life still available to commercial agents overseas.
Mr. Raj, a student from Ceylon whom Denham meets after he puts in a period as emergency representative for his firm there. Raj is charming, effusive, and insistent, a descendant of the stock oriental sidekick of British colonial fiction now become the colonial beneficiary of imperial enlightenment. Insinuating himself into Denham's friendship, he proves masterful in handling some embarrassing situations once they return to England, where he is supposed to be researching a graduate thesis on interracial relations. He assumes, as a student of the British patriarchal system—the tradition of sweet reasonableness—that in Britain interracial harmony should prevail. He determines in his own small ways to promote that cause. One way in which he follows this course is by falling in love with and pursuing Alice Winter. Another is by moving in with Denham's father, Bert, when Denham has to return to Tokyo. Raj determines to restore the elder Denham to vitality by cooking curries for him as only an Asian can. Unfortunately, as Arden's cables to Denham eventually reveal, Raj's cooking overwhelms Bert's system; he dies of heart failure before Denham can get back. To compound the error, Raj, after defending his conduct to Denham, goes to see Alice, whose husband has just returned to her. Alice and her husband tumble into bed in an ecstasy of reunion. Raj, assuming that Alice is being assaulted, kills Winter with a pistol that he has stolen from Arden. Confronted by Denham, he kills himself just before the police arrive. As a result, Denham realizes that his own way of life is morally defective.
Ted Arden, the middle-aged owner of the Black Swan. Arden is the ideal publican, dispensing libations and personal philosophy in equal measure. An evening at the Black Swan normally includes the bestowing of gifts on Arden by appreciative customers returning from trips abroad. As his name indicates, he is descended from the family of William Shakespeare's wife.
William Winter, or Winterbottom, a printer whom Denham meets at the Black Swan. Winter discloses that he is a victim of sexual liberation; his wife flagrantly makes a public cuckold out of him with an electrician. Denham urges him to retaliate by confronting her. Instead, Winter sets up an adulterous liaison of his own with Imogen Everett in London, where they expect Denham to subsidize them.
Everett, a poet and friend of Denham's conventional suburban sister, Beryl. Because Denham refuses to underwrite the publication of his poems, he lampoons the visitor in a newspaper column. Later, he continues to ask Denham for support.
Imogen Everett, his daughter, a foulmouthed, tough-minded “modern” woman who becomes Winter's mistress in London. Because Winter has trouble finding work there and Denham is reluctant to finance his unorthodox lifestyle, she decides to make money by running a confidence game. Setting up as a prostitute, she extracts the fee from her clients in advance, then slips out without performing the stipulated act.
Len, a racketeer of sorts whom Denham meets in Colombo and again in Tokyo. During the first encounter, Denham tells about losing money while in London to a woman running Imogen's game. Len promises to avenge the deed. Before their next meeting, Denham's Japanese mistress is attacked and nearly raped by a teenage gang from the American armed forces settlement at Washington Heights; she subsequently leaves him. Len reports that Denham's swindling has been avenged but includes details that reveal the victim to be Imogen. She has been beaten, after which four teeth were extracted. She then returns to live with her father, repudiating Winter. Len justifies this action by asserting the necessity of balancing good and evil.