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English Papers >> Free English Essays: Character of Ray Johnson in Last Orders, by Graham Swift
Character of Ray Johnson and His Role
In the Narration of Last Orders
Monday, April 2, 2001
Continued from: Graham Swift, Last Orders: Part 1
The problem is, however, that Ray does not always feel lucky. "First my daughter buggers off to Sydney and stops writing, now my wife goes and bunks it. And they call me Lucky", says he. The "imposed luckiness" come into Ray's life during his interview, where Jack first calls him "Lucky" and Ray plays along. He does not even mention that his mother has died not to destroy the image created, thinking that it is because of his luck that Jack wants to hire him. Since that moment on, Ray assumes the role of the lucky man and acts it out until the end.
His first name is symbolic as well. "Ray", as "ray of light". He is the last ray of hope for Jack who needs "a winner" to pay back his enormous loan. He is a little ray of light for Amy, the only one to take some part in her devotion to June. Even though their relationship had only lasted fourteen weeks, we know that Amy treasures it because he is the first one she calls when she finds out that Jack is not operable and when he finally dies.
Ray does not forget about his "rules on betting" even in everyday life. They are not just rules for the hippodrome, they are part of him. He quotes them on different occasions, as he quotes "Value for money" when Vince asks him to sell the yard. Ray knows that if he agrees he will miss out on the rule, and therefore decides to keep the thousand pounds given to him by Jack.
His language is very appropriate, even though with some colloquialisms, for example, "aint". His language of narration is very similar, but a lot more descriptive. This style of speech helps us see him as a person well-fit in his environment where everybody talks this way, and therefore, trust him more. Ray is also the one with the best sense of humour in the novel. He does not always mean to sound funny, this is just the way he is. His sense of humour helps us view the story not in such dark colours as a death of a person is usually viewed in.
In the beginning of the novel Ray looks quite weak-willed. For example, he does not want Vic to hold the jar with the Jack's ashes all the time, but does not openly object to it. It seems that he is a people-pleaser who does not like to speak up or quarrel. By the end of the journey Ray changes a lot. His growth in spirit and strength is shown through him being the one to scatter the Jack's ashes over the river. He is shown as the one taking control.
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