No Great Mischief Character Analysis

Is Calum a hero or villain? In Alistair MacLeod’s No Great Mischief, Alexander’s oldest brother commits violent crimes and by all accounts could be considered an antagonist, however, this is not the case. To outsiders Calum appears violent and rough, but within his clan he is their guiding compass. Calum is an intrepid leader who falls victim to his own history. He lacked guidance as a young man and this contributes to his later struggles with the law. Through anecdotes and flashbacks Calum is revealed to be a multifaceted character whose downfall comes from misplaced trust in a stranger who would ultimately betray him. In a novel where bloodlines are revered and devotion to clan is crucial, goodness is defined not by moral excellence but
While watching his brother drunkenly stumble across the room, Alexander recalls Grandpa’s love for beer drinking and remembers a story that Grandma had told him. Readers learn more about young Calum, an innocent and curious boy whose happiness has yet to be eclipsed by tragedy. Throughout the novel there is significant use of light and dark to contrast happiness and sadness, especially the night that the parents drown on the ice. Calum “can’t find himself again” (190) when he looks in the bottle after a similar change in lighting. This warns of the loss and loneliness that he will experience when he is left to grow up alone. Another interpretation is that he is pulled into the world of law-breaking due to a lack of guidance growing up, and that this is how he loses himself. The talk of prophecy relates to the idea presented in the novel that events are predestined and that fate dictates the past, present, and future. The fact that he sees his reflection in a beer bottle is dramatic irony and foretells the alcoholism that will consume his life later on. This compares to and contrasts with his Grandpa’s own struggles with