Quoyle's Character In 'The Shipping News'

In “The Shipping News”, the author defines Quoyle as submissive, lacking self-confidence, and perceiving himself as a failure as a human being. Quoyle’s plights are reflected in the author’s writing style, strengthening the image of Quoyle simply accepting his fate, and letting his past dictate his present and future.
Quoyle stumbles through life, and when he falls, he struggles to pick himself back up as a direct result of his negative self-image. Proulx’s awkward, fragmented syntax shapes the reader’s interpretation of the text, and mirrors Quoyle’s physical and mental journey through life. He was taught insecurity from a young age, and constantly berated by his father, a “sly-looking lump” (60) who most likely pushed his repressed negativity onto Quoyle. Quoyle’s father is presented as tough and unfeeling, even going as far as to throw Quoyle into “pools, brooks, lakes, and surf” (19-20) to fight the boy’s fear of water. Quoyle feels isolated from his family and unwanted by them, and this dismal upbringing becomes something Quoyle can never quite shake off in his adult life. Once he was taught to feel like a disappointment and a burden, he was unable to escape this mentality, and as a result, cannot make anything of his life,

because he doesn’t believe in himself.
As hard as Quoyle tries, his actions have the adverse affect to what he wants, digging him deeper into a mindset of despair and insecurity. He briefly attends a university, but quickly drops out due to his inability to understand the course material, and goes back to his assortment of tedious jobs: an “all-night clerk” position at a convenience store, distributing “vending machine candy”, and his crowning achievement, a “third-rate newspaperman” (11-13). Quoyle constantly has his “hand over his chin” (67) in an attempt to hide it, but in reality, he is drawing more attention to it by having his hand there. It looks out of place, and therefore catches people's eye and forces them to stare while they process the sight, spotlighting the very thing Quoyle wishes to conceal. His insecurity about his chin is blaringly present throughout the passage, and he feels as though it is his “chief failure” (35). The unconventional style of the passage parallels Quoyle’s unconventional appearance, and there is a blatant pattern of repetition concerning Quoyle covering his chin. Instead of learning to accept and live with it, he surrenders to the negativity and keeps his head down because he is too afraid to go after what he wants.
Quoyle lacks a solid support system, and struggles to develop meaningful relationships with others because of his isolation from his family growing up.

Quoyle is constantly deflecting people, pushing them away before there is even a slight chance of connection because of his fear and insecurity. He craves acceptance and love, but is unsure of how to get it. He didn’t grow up with good examples of healthy human relationships, and this impairs him in forming both platonic and romantic relationships, so he ends up alone for most of his life. His self-esteem takes a huge hit because of this, so he stops trying, and creates more loneliness for himself. It is a vicious cycle that he cannot break, leading to his dissatisfaction and

misery.
Quoyle never took his life by the reins and steered it in the direction he wanted to go. Instead, he let others decide what was going to happen to him while he stood by and did nothing about it. His abusive upbringing carried into his adult life, and prevented him from reaching any kind of happiness or satisfaction. Quoyle is uncertain about how to overcome his insecurity because it was all he ever knew growing up, and although he breaks the cycle of abuse, he fails to break the cycle of negativity.