31 pages • 1 hour read
Robb WhiteDeathwatch
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1972A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Ben
Ben is the protagonist of the story. He was raised by his uncle after his parents died. He works as a hunting guide in the little desert town where he grew up to pay for college so that he can become a geologist. He is well known in town for his knowledge of bighorn sheep and their range. He has also worked on search parties for tourists that have gone missing in the desert.
Madec considers Ben to be “an honest, law-abiding young man” (36). Ben does not consider himself to be “in the same world” (12) as Madec and plans to never be in that world. Ben is an analytical thinker. He breaks things down into smaller parts to figure them out. For example, to decide on a route to reach the catch basin, he stands “measuring distances with his eyes and gauging the pain in his body” (57).
Ben’s experience with Madec results in his loss of innocence, as Ben begins the story passively evading Madec, but he ends the story by actively attacking him with the slingshot. Still, Ben’s values and morals do not change, and he refuses to press charges against Madec, despite his violent behavior.
Madec
Madec is the antagonist of the story. He is a businessman from Los Angeles who is married with two children. He is a skilled shooter and has been waiting for years to get a permit to hunt bighorn sheep.
Madec is an admitted liar. He tells Ben, “I guess you could say that I’m a liar, Ben…I’m not a brand-new liar, either, Ben. I’m an old hand at it. I’ve had a lot of practice. As a matter of fact, some people consider me an expert at it” (161-162). Madec is also manipulative. He uses lying and other strategies to undermine rational thinking to get what he wants.
With lying and manipulation being his way of living, Madec is not a trusting person. The narrator notes, “Madec was not the kind of man who could trust another man to keep his word” (50-51). Madec’s lying and manipulation create a harsh world for him to live in. Madec explains, “…in the jungle I live in it takes a smart man to survive. You’ve got to be smart and shrewd and cold. And you’ve got to be a professional liar. It’s a tough, mean world” (162).
Though Madec is a static character who undergoes no development throughout the novel, Ben’s naivety initially keeps him from understanding the full breadth of Madec’s villainy. Ben first recognizes Madec is dangerous and foolish with his rifle, but it’s not until Madec has already sent Ben out into the desert and shot at him that Ben accepts Madec is truly willing to kill him.
