Todd Keane

Todd Keane is the main character of the novel. The italicized sections of the narrative are also written from Todd’s first-person point of view. Todd grows up in Illinois with his mother and father in their palatial home, which he refers to as Evanston Castle. From a young age, his parents put pressure on him to excel and be successful. “An only child,” he bends “under the obligation to become the first person to reach the Future” (9, Powers’s italics). As a boy, he invests in games and learning. His father drills him at various board games, including Chutes and Ladders, Backgammon, and Chess, believing these games will give him the strategic skills he will later need to become a successful businessman. Then one year he falls in love with the ocean when he reads Evie Beaulieu’s book Clearly It Is Ocean. He vows to...