At 13 years old, Charlie Fox is the product of his unique upbringing; he longs for broader experiences outside his socially isolated home life. As a narrator, Charlie is observant and reflective, demonstrating empathy and insight unexhibited by most of his family members. He is humble and self-conscious, acutely aware of his difference from peers. He has grown up under his father’s oppressive and totalitarian leadership, and his brevity in speech compared to the wealth of thoughts and feelings shared in his narrative indicate that Allie’s need to dominate conversations has silenced his son. Privately, Charlie has begun to develop his own opinions and perspectives and to question his father, developments which steadily persist and bloom into a greater sense of autonomy as the novel progresses.

Charlie feels apart from his siblings, referring to them as “the kids.” He spends the most time with their father, cast in the role of his most anchored captive audience. He shoulders the burden of his father’s eccentricity, demonstrated by the sense of responsibility he describes. As the novel progresses, Charlie grapples with the many ways in which his father consistently disappoints him and is compelled to muster his courage and act against his father to ensure the survival of his family.