The Little Old Man
supporting · human · the one who was reading the paper
Put down his newspaper, ran as far as the gate, and had a very good point to make afterwards.
How we meet them
Behind a newspaper, in the second sentence of the chase.
Personality
Dry, comfortable and quietly funny.
What they want
To finish the paper, ideally.
How they change
From an armchair, to the gate, to the riverbank, to the best line in the story.
How they speak
One sentence, right at the end, and it lands.
How the story treats them
Nobody in the story pays him much attention, which is roughly how he likes it.
One surprising thing
He and the old woman between them get exactly as far as the garden gate, and then have to hold on to it.
If they were real today
He would say I told you so in the mildest possible voice, once, and then let it go.
Key moments
He put down his newspaper
The whole household mobilisation consists of a man setting aside a newspaper and going as far as the gate.
Shut the oven door properly
At the riverbank, after everything, he offers the one observation nobody else has made, and it is completely correct.
Who they know
The Little Old Womanfamily
Two people who run as far as the gate together and then hold on to it.
Characters like The Little Old Man
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