Importance of Coach

Bump employs Coach at the beginning of the novel as a symbol for all of the loss that Claude and his family and friends endure on a regular basis. Coach, a depressed man with two babies, is a regular presence in Claude’s house as a child, but takes off once the pressure becomes too much. This departure mirrors many of the others that take place with extreme casualness throughout the novel. Loss is a constant presence in Claude’s world, which Coach’s presence at the beginning of his story makes immediately clear.