The Thieves Of Always Harvey Swick Character Analysis

The Role of Secondary Characters And Questions in The Thief of Always

Clive Barker’s The Thief of Always involves Harvey Swick, the protagonist, finding out that the Holiday House isn’t as real and happy as it seems. Barker has many characters and uses questions that help the main character, Harvey Swick, see through the antagonist, Hood, and his illusions and magic. Barker uses his caretaker Mrs.Griffin; Harvey’s own inquisitive nature; Harvey’s strange and mysterious friend, Lulu to help Harvey see through Hood’s magic and illusions showing that minor characters are significant to the story too. Mrs.Griffin, the children’s caretaker drops clues about the House that Harvey uses to figure out that the House is evil. Mrs. Griffin says that
Harvey found the bathtub running with Lulu’s clothes on the floor with Lulu nowhere in sight. While investigating the House after Wendell realized that everyone was trapped, the narrator said, This event gives clues that digs deeper into the fact that the lake shows the House’s darker side. This event gives Harvey a window to figure out that Hood is evil. Harvey observes Lulu gazing into the lake and standing precariously on the stones. Before Harvey startled Lulu at the lake, he observed that, “[Lulu] was perched on the slimy stones at the very edge of the [lake], gazing into [its] depth” (46). Lulu was “perched on the slimy stones”. A function, normal human being wouldn’t stand on slippery stones. That connects to the fact that Hood was hypnotizing and slowly transforming Lulu into a fish. This also connects to the fact that the lake reveals Hood/House’s darker side. Barker inserts hints through Lulu’s actions instead of inserting hints through Lulu’s traits and personality, a tactic that another, more generic author would’ve probably chosen. Barker’s clever hints raise suspicions and horror in both the reader’s mind and Harvey’s