John Wade A character Study I
John Wade A character Study--IJohn Wade:
A Character Study
John Wade is by far the most intricate and perplexing character examined throughout the novel In The Lake Of the Woods. His character hinges on the brink of order and chaos; on one hand, he is defined as a man who is obsessed with controlling the events and people around him. It is this obsession with control and order that lies alongside the central idea of the novel; that John Wade does not really know what happened to his wife. His blackouts and tendency towards spurts of violence highlight the chaos that lies beneath the surface of his life. The image of the mirrors demonstrate this aspects of John's life; the mirrors represent both his attempt to control his world as well as a sanctuary from the reality of his helplessness.
The source of John's Wade's complexity can be traced to his childhood. As a child John tries desperately to win his father's affection; Unfortunately, as is evident, John's alcoholic father seems to prefer a different sort of child, more simple and typically American. Subsequently John -through his uniqueness- fails to satisfy his father. John's father teases and ridicules him throughout his childhood. John's mother sees this as the beginning of his need to escape from reality, the need to take on a different persona:
John had all kinds of different names. I remember his father used to call him Little Merlin or Little Houdini, and that Jiggling John one. Maybe he got used to it. Maybe he felt- maybe it sort of helped to call himself Sorcerer. I hope so. (p268)
Ultimately, John's feelings of helplessness lead to a hunger for control. As a youngster, John is presented to the reader as a would-be magician who tries desperately to achieve the greatest trick of all - gaining his father's love. At the same time, the magic helps John to take control of his life in times of helplessness.
His father's death accentuates his reliance on magic to the point where John begins to do the tricks "in his mind"(p31)
Long ago, as a kid, he'd learned the secret of making his mind into a blackboard. Erase the bad stuff. Draw in pretty pictures. (p135)
The need for love and control is carried over into his adulthood and later, his relationship with Kathy. He spies on her and obsesses about losing her. John genuinely loves Kathy, but the images he uses to represent this is significant:
He compared their love to a pair of snakes he's seen along a trail near Pinkville, each snake eating the other's tail, a bizarre circle of appetites that brought the heads closer and closer..."That's how our love feels". (p61)
This image, along with his desire to "control the miracle of her breathing"(p76) and "crawl inside her belly"(p 71) indicates a love that is both obsessive and ultimately destructive. His need to control and 'consume' Kathy...
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