Free Essays

Character of Ray Johnson
and His Role In the Narration
of Last Orders

Ray Johnson is a narrator of almost exactly half of the Last Orders. He has thirty-six chapters versus thirty-six chapters of all the other characters. As he is the most descriptive narrator, the whole novel could have been told by him alone, with other passages serving only as additions to it. We get all our facts about the journey from him, for he is the only narrator of it. He starts and ends the story with the present time narration. All the passages about the journey are called by a name of the place where the friends are at in the moment. Ray's first narration, for example, is called by the name of the town, where they live and where their journey begins, "Bermondsey". The last chapter - by the name of their final destination, "Margate". This shows clear structure of the novel, its beginning and the end, even though the way the plot is told is not chronological.

With a few exceptions, the passages narrated by other characters in the book are sandwiched between two passages narrated by Ray. So is the only Jack's passage. This reminds us that Ray is the one through whom most of our information comes.

Quite often, Ray, just as other narrators, lets us figure it out for ourselves who is it he is talking about. Sometimes he does not name a character, so that we have to guess who is it he is telling us about by little clues he gives us. For example, he starts one of his narrations with words: "He says, 'Wanna do a deal with the yard?'" Ray mentions neither the name of the speaker nor when does this conversation take place. As a result, it takes us some time to figure out, mostly from the past knowledge, that it is Vince Ray is having a conversation with. With this kind of narration it is very easy for the reader to get confused about what time-period is being remembered. This design creates atmosphere of confusion and chaos in the lives and heads of everyone in the novel. It shows us how shaken they are by Jack's death, his last request and all the discoveries they make about themselves and each other during their journey to Margate.

Ray genuinely cares for Jack. He is even willing to risk his own money in betting on Jack's behalf. Even though Jack only needs twenty thousand pounds, Ray wants to return thirty out of thirty-four thousand he has won and to pay the tax necessary himself. Obviously, his love for Amy plays a certain role here too. However, when Jack dies, Ray decides to keep the initial thousand pounds because of the bitter feelings he has towards Vince.

Ray is portrayed as a man having conscience. He feels bad for being attracted to Nurse Kelly at the time when his best friend is dying. This is an obvious contrast with Lenny who justifies himself for thinking the same way about Amy right after her husband had died.

Much of his narration is about people's private space and territory, about how really alone people are when they go through major challenges in their lives, and especially, when they are close to death. This aloneness does not happen because they cannot get the needed support during hard times, but because they do not want it and make the conscientious choice to bear the load alone to protect those who love them. Ray's nickname "Lucky" is highly symbolic. Ray knows that he has this special luck that makes him different from others. His betting and winning is one example of this. There is an element of logic to his luck, though. For instance, he describes in detail the plan of calculating which horse will win and devotes a separate chapter to list his rules for betting. He says, "I aint worked in that insurance office for nothing." This tells us that he is keen and careful, even prudent sometimes. His last rule, however, is: "You can blow all the rules if you're Lucky." He does listen to his impulses, but this is rather an exception than a rule. Only in special cases does he let himself go with the momentum. Betting for Jack's money was such a case. Ray also finds this luck a burden. The name "Lucky" requires him to match to the expectations that come with it. It obliges him to be and act as an extremely lucky person needs to.

Continued here: Graham Swift, Last Orders: Part 2