Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Living… on the stool at the very end of the bar, looking out over his fellow drunks. When he’s not down at his local saloon, Henry is holed up in his dreary hovel, a one-room apartment lit by a single, dim bulb. But that’s O.K., life’s not so bad when you just accept it for what it is.
Profession… drifter, dreamer, and, most of all, writer. But Henry doesn’t really do very much aside from drink. When he needs something, he usually steals it from his neighbor’s apartment.
Interests… drinking, fighting, and writing. Henry likes to lose himself in things – if his only method of escape is to pick a fight, he’ll never hesitate to throw the first punch. “Some people never go crazy,” he says. “What truly horrible lives they must live."
Relationship Status… fooling around with a fellow ne’er-do-well named Wanda. She’s a well put-together lady, but like Henry, she can’t stand people – and she can’t stand being alone, either. But don’t worry, he doesn’t plan on falling in love. As he puts it, “Nobody’s ever loved me yet.”
Challenge… making it to his next drink (without paying in blood). Aside from philandering, Henry sends off the occasional story or poem to the Contemporary Review of Art and Literature, but he doesn’t plan on finding literary fame. Instead, his highest ambition is to be discovered after his death.
Personality… dazed, drunk, and cynical. Henry sways from bar to bar, drink to drink, and dollar to dollar. Wherever there’s the smell of whiskey and sin, he’s bound to go: “Anybody can be a non-drunk. But it takes a special talent to be a drunk. It takes endurance. Endurance is more important than truth.”
