Who is Paul Henry from The Memory Keeper's Daughter and what is their importance?

The son of David and Norah, Paul Henry is an adorable child who loves to collect bones and artifacts with his father. He is fascinated with fossils, and is a typical little boy. His mother is overly protective of him, since his twin sister died in childbirth. As he grows up, he is less able to please his father, whose expectations for him do not coincide with Paul's talent for music. Paul senses the pain in his family, and rides in the back seat with his mother, taking long, fast drives to the river for no apparent reason. He senses the distance in his parents, and longs to be close to his father.