Elizabeth Baines The Compass And The Torch

How is the character of The Boy presented in Elizabeth Baines’ ‘The Compass and the Torch’?
Elizabeth Baines presents ‘the boy’ in ‘The Compass and the Torch’ as an innocent young child who comes from a broken family and is going through the difficult transition of adjusting to a new father figure. It is clear that the boy is not finding this an easy transition as we see that he is very resistant towards ‘Jim’, the mothers new boyfriend and at the appearance of the father, he idolises him and cannot help making comparisons between the two men. He rejects Jim because of an undying loyalty towards his father. The boy had to force ‘himself to acknowledge Jims kindness and affirmation’. This reveals that he acknowledges the fact that Jim is trying to build a relationship between the two but he refuses to accept this because in his eyes, Jim has replaced his father.
The boy presents a longing desire and pursuit of knowledge about the father through the quotation ‘drinking it in: the essence of Dadness’.
Here, the boy is using a neologism through ‘Dadness’ which expresses his age and naivety towards the outside world, ‘drinking it in’ suggests the level of attention that he is paying to the father as he is absorbing ever detail about him. This is reflected when the boy is said to be watching ‘the way he strides to the gate, his calf muscles flexing beneath the wide knee-length shorts’. He idolises his father so much that every little detail is fascinating to the boy and worthy of scrutiny. He sees the father as the embodiment of perfection and seeks to emulate
dad.
The boy seeks to replace the emotions of absence and loss towards the father with positive memories formed on this trip, he really wants the father to amaze him and so he is overcompensating the man’s actions. ‘The boy is gratified by his speed but unsettled by his subtly nervy hurry’ reveals that the boy is noticing the odd traits of the father and the damaged connection between the two but due to his admiration for his father and longing to rekindle their relationship, he seeks the positive explanation for any action which could be taken differently however accepts that some things about the dad cannot be ignored.
The boy is impressed by the tent that the father has brought with them as it is described as an ‘all-weather mountain tent. Two man’. This suggests a non-nuclear family as the boy seeks an equal footing with the father, admiring his selection. The ‘two man’ presents the boys longing for connection and the man’s desire to have this also, although it isn’t an easy thing for the father to achieve. The two dream of the father and son relationship is represented through the tent as the ‘all weathers’ implies that it holds up resistance to storms. Their relationship is threatened and yet they are both resisting to let go of one another through the boy’s refusal to accept Jim and the father’s insistence on taking the boy on the camping trip. This is symbolized through the tent and links to the theme of the dysfunctional family and lost connection.