The Narrator (Max)

The novel's central character is a man of later years - his age is never specifically defined, but because his daughter is evidently in her late twenties or early thirties, it's reasonable to assume he's at least in his fifties. However, his perspectives, attitudes and in particular his sense of, and obsession with, impending death suggests he's significantly older, more likely in his seventies. He describes his own physical appearance in mostly negative terms, indicating that he perceives himself as being unusually tall, having overly large features, and a certain gangly-ness about his limbs. He also describes himself as having little talent, little skill, and little ambition. He writes disparagingly of the lower class, the father-abandoned family in which he grew up, and points out on at least one occasion that one of the goals of his few friendships or relationships was to improve his lot...