Norton
A retired professor who narrates his corrupt relationship with his teenage son through self-justification.
To keep Racky close while avoiding an honest account of his own adult responsibility.
The book
At a glance
- Pages from Cold Point
- The Delicate Prey and Other Stories
- Mid-twentieth century
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeNorton moves to a Caribbean island with his sixteen-year-old son Racky after his wife Hope dies. Distance lets him imagine their household can exist outside ordinary judgment.
He narrates Racky’s sexual conduct with fascination, disapproval, desire, and helplessness. First person gives access to his explanations without making them trustworthy.
When the relationship becomes incestuous, Norton presents himself as unable to resist. That claim is part of his failure: the adult with parental power describes responsibility as if it belonged to the child.
How the book draws them
- Place in the storyHis education and age once supported a conventional position of authority.
- How power worksAs father and narrator, he controls both the household and the first version of its story.
- What Bowles showsCareful explanation becomes a way to hide responsibility in plain sight.
- What remains uncertainReaders cannot fully recover Racky’s experience from Norton’s self-serving account.
Norton sends Racky to Havana and retreats alone to Cold Point, but separation does not restore innocence or moral order.
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