The Underground Man: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Underground Man: Analysis of Major Characters" explores the intricate relationships and psychological complexities within a suspenseful narrative centered around crime and family dynamics. The protagonist, Lew Archer, serves as a middle-aged private detective who utilizes psychological insight over traditional investigation methods, reflecting a more humane approach to understanding his clients and their problems. Notably, the story involves Jean Broadhurst, who seeks Archer's help after her son Ronny seemingly gets kidnapped during a family visit, a situation rooted in a disturbing legacy of violence and tragedy.
Central to the narrative is the history of the Broadhurst family, particularly the tragic life of Stanley Broadhurst, whose obsession with finding his missing father leads to his own murder. The characters are interwoven through themes of jealousy, betrayal, and unfulfilled desires, illustrated by figures such as Elizabeth, Stanley’s cold-hearted mother, and Edna Snow, who enacts a revengeful cycle of violence. The backstory includes betrayals and tragedies that span generations, creating a rich tapestry of motives and conflicts. The complexities of familial ties, personal obsession, and the impact of past crimes provide a compelling backdrop that invites deeper analysis of human behavior and societal influences.
The Underground Man: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Ross Macdonald
First published: 1971
Genre: Novel
Locale: California
Plot: Detective and mystery
Time: The 1960's
Lew Archer, the narrator, a private detective and former police officer who is middle-aged and divorced. Not a typical violent hard-boiled detective, Archer is more a questioner than a doer, humane and sensitive to clients, victims, and even criminals. He works by understanding and analyzing psychological states and family histories rather than by collecting physical evidence.
Jean Broadhurst, his client, whose son apparently is kidnapped during a visit with his father to his grandmother's mountain cabin.
Ronny Broadhurst, her six-year-old son, who witnesses the death of his father, Stanley, in the same place that Stanley aurally witnessed his own father's shooting fifteen years earlier.
Stanley Broadhurst, Jean's twenty-seven-year-old, newly estranged husband, Ronny's father. Stanley was deeply affected as a child by the disappearance of his father, Leo, and has become obsessed with the need to search for him, neglecting his family as a result. He has recently stirred up interest in that search by putting an advertisement in the paper and offering a reward for information about Leo. His murder by pickax at his family's mountain cabin near the beginning of the novel leads eventually to the discovery that Leo was killed fifteen years earlier in the same place.
Elizabeth Broadhurst, the wealthy wife of Leo Broadhurst, mother of Stanley, and grandmother of Ronny. A coldhearted daddy's girl, she is proud of her family's history. She shot Leo out of jealousy fifteen years earlier and believed that she had killed him.
Leo Broadhurst, a man who vanished fifteen years earlier, supposedly leaving his family to elope with Ellen Strome Kilpatrick and subsequently deserting her as well. In fact, Leo had been murdered the night before his planned departure. A chronic womanizer and the father of Susan Crandall, he blamed his infidelities on his wife's lack of attention to him. He had gone to the mountain cabin with Martha and Susan, was shot (but not fatally) by Elizabeth, and then was stabbed to death by Edna as he lay unconscious.
Edna Snow, Elizabeth's former housekeeper. She murdered Leo in revenge for the trouble he had caused Fritz and also in judgment of his infidelities, then murdered Stanley fifteen years later as he was about to discover his father's body and Edna's crime. A quick-moving gray-haired woman, she is accustomed to making excuses for Fritz and is overprotective of him.
Frederick (Fritz) Snow, Edna Snow's son and Elizabeth's gardener, in his middle thirties, with a moon face and a scar resembling a harelip. Fritz, along with Albert, took the blame and was punished for Leo's statutory rape of Martha Nickerson. Fritz suffered a nervous breakdown as a result and has been “emotionally immature” ever since. He lives with his mother and is both afraid of and dependent on her.
Albert Sweetner, a former convict who was once a foster child of Edna Snow. He responds to Stanley's advertisement but is murdered by Edna before he can reveal the information that he and Fritz buried Leo's body for her.
Brian Kilpatrick, a real estate agent and the partner of Elizabeth Broadhurst in the Canyon estates development. He is a dangerously emotional man about forty-five years old. Out of jealousy caused by his wife's affair with Leo, he called Elizabeth to tell her that Leo and Martha would be in the cabin that night. He has been blackmailing Elizabeth ever since.
Ellen Strome, Brian's former wife and the former mistress of Leo Broadhurst. She went to Reno to obtain a divorce from Brian and wait for Leo, who never arrived. She has become a lonely woman who is content with her loneliness and spends her time painting. A former high-school teacher, she has stayed friendly with Martha, a former pupil.
Jerry Kilpatrick, a lanky boy of about nineteen, with long hair and a beard. He is hostile and emotional. He flees with Susan Crandall and Ronny Broadhurst after Stanley's murder.
Susan Crandall, the eighteen-or nineteen-year-old illegitimate daughter of Leo Broadhurst and the then-underage Martha Nickerson. Susan accompanies Stanley and Ronny to the mountain cabin, panicking and fleeing with Ronny after Stanley is murdered. She was present, as a three-year-old child, at Leo's murder. Although basically a good girl, she is confused and suicidal.
Lester Crandall, a shrewd and wealthy sixty-year-old man. He married Martha Nickerson when she was pregnant with Leo's child, Susan, and reared Susan as his own daughter.
Martha Nickerson Crandall, an attractive middle-aged woman who felt that she and her family did not belong in the wealthy world in which her husband wanted them to live. She has never told anyone that she was with Leo when he was shot.