Who is Bearse Hinkley from Welcome to the Monkey House and what is their importance?

Bearse Hinkley is the seventy-two-year-old pharmacist. He loves Susanna. She is one of the many pleasures he misses. He enjoys watching her and interacting with her. Bearse emerges as a wise man in his conversations with Fuller after the attack. He sees through Fuller and remembers his own days as a young man, frustrated over women. He minimizes Fuller's complaint and defines it as a universal phase in the life of every man, not an evil to be fought against. He drives Fuller's development, first through subtle conversation, then by actually forcing Fuller to go see Susanna.