The Haywards are presented as an impeccable family, with good taste and meticulous manners, but each of the Haywards have varying qualities that make them a mix which is interesting when compared to others such as the Wheatley family, who are also featured on the story.
Keith Hayward - the son of Mr and Mrs Hayward - is a young boy who craves authority and who is presented as a bossy and overpowering character, which is emphasised by the quotation, ‘We had a great many enterprises and projects, and in all of them he was the leader and i was the lead.’ This establishes how he manipulates things to become the leader but this is because of his ‘ intellectual and imaginative superiority.’ …show more content…
The first section of the quote - ‘It was Keith, not me…’ could refer to how controlling and overbearing Keith is to Steven and why is a boy so rich and smart being close friends with a boy moderately poor and moderately clever. Possibly, this could be referred back to how Keith craves power and authority so therefore by being friends with a lower class child, he could get the attention he so desperately needs, however could this reflect on the Mr Haywards …show more content…
This leads on to the final piece of the Haywards, Mr Hayward an old fashion man with tradition values. He calls Keith ‘old boy’, ‘old chap’ and ‘old bean’ which goes with with this era. Furthermore, this could seem snobby or that he was brought up in a posh environment and well spoken parents. Additionally, he appears to be a perfectionist as a consequent of this quotation, ‘…for ever making perfection more perfect’ but this is common with the Hayward family, never less this might be due to the father as he is in charge as seen with the paragraph before.
He is illustrated as an introvert, a man who was deeply consumed in his work, this is emphasised the the extract on page 22, ‘Keith’s father worked and worked’ this indicates that he has no real connection with his son and wife due to his heavy work schedule. ‘…Keith who’d get caned, because Stephen didn't even exist.’ This hints that he is an alarming character and that he is very judgmental as he treats Stephen like he doesn't exist, maybe because of their such different