An outcast
Unfortunately, Quoyle didn’t have a chance for happy childhood. Not only was he the least favorite son, but he also had a personal bully in the person of his own brother. Dick, Quoyle’s brother, “pretended to throw up when Quoyle came into a room,” “pummeled and kicked until Quoyle curled, hands over head, sniveling on the linoleum.” He was called “Lardass, Snotface, Ugly Pig, Warthog, Stupid, Stinkbomb, Fart-tube, Greasebag.” All of that “stemmed from Quoyle’s chief failure, a failure of normal appearance.” This imagery evokes a bitter feeling of indignation, for Quoyle was mistreated by his own family.
Unsightliness
It was true that Quoyle wasn’t blessed with good looks. He had “a great damp loaf of a body,” and “weighed eighty pounds” at six. At sixteen “he was buried under a casement of flesh.” His head was shaped “like a Crenshaw, no neck, reddish hair.” His features were “as bunched as kissed fingertips” and his eyes were of “the color of plastic.” Not to mention that he had “the monstrous chin, a freakish shelf jutting from the lower face.” Eventually, he figured out “stratagems to deflect stares; a smile, downcast gaze, the right had darting up to cover the chin.” The imagery does make readers feel sorry for Quoyle.
An equal
Quoyle got used to an idea that he was worse than other people, that he was less gifted, less attractive, less successful. However, it didn’t mean that he gave up on a dream to become a respected member of the society, so when he got a job at a newspaper, he was extremely happy about it. It seemed that he “was part of something.” Neither “roars” nor “picking” hurt him. He had come up “under the savage brother, the father’s relentless criticism.” Nothing could scare him off! This imager evokes different emotions. It seems that Quoyle is happier than he used to be, but the problem is that he is still mistreated.
