A God in Ruins

Nancy grew up next to Teddy, and she eventually becomes his wife after the war. She is faithful and patient with him, although at times she wonders why the war should continue to affect him so profoundly, decades after it has ended. Nancy is a gifted mathematician who prefers the reliability of numbers to humanity’s volatile, abstract appetites, as well as feelings such as love. She and Teddy have a fulfilling relationship, despite never being passionately in love. When Nancy develops a brain tumor, she asks Teddy to end her life if her mind deteriorates to the point where she is no longer herself. Nancy has a truer sense of identity than Teddy, who comes to see himself as nothing but a bomber pilot. She would rather die than live a life in which she can no longer be herself or have possession of her own mind. 

Nancy’s devotion to Viola provides a stark contrast to her daughter’s indifference to her own children, and her loving relationship with Teddy is an illustrative counterpoint to the chaos of the relationships so many of the other characters experience. Her life with Teddy does not make her deliriously happy, but they are always good for her each other, and to each other. 

Viola is the daughter of Nancy and Teddy. When she is young, she witnesses Teddy killing her mother but never mentions it. As the story progresses, she treats Teddy with more contempt, barely trying to disguise her feelings, although her witnessing of the killing is not revealed until late in the novel. 

As an adult, Viola is impulsive, self-pitying, irrational, and often acts as if she has no agency. He relationship with Dominic is disastrous, and her willingness to be dragged to the commune—and to take her children with her—is initially confusing when it becomes obvious that it is not what she wants, or a life she enjoys. When she abandons her children, there is no sign that the decision torments her, or that she spends a lot of thought pondering the choice. 

Viola is always moving, always restless, and frames every experience and indignity as some sort of persecution or plot against her. Despite becoming a wealthy novelist, she claims to have always been on the outside of happiness. When she meets with Sunny at his yoga studio in Bali, she listens to him teaching concepts that are the opposite of the life she has lived. Rather than letting go and accepting each moment and feeling, unpleasant or pleasant, Viola has always rushed toward the next distraction. It can be argued that the sight of Teddy killing her mother altered her forever and shaped her future actions, but she is never shown reflecting on the issue. Even when speaking to her therapist, she dodges the question and avoids thinking out loud about the issue. 

Sunny is Viola’s only son. As a child, he is needy and prone to tantrums. As it becomes clearer that Viola neglects him, his actions make more sense, and he changes from seeming like an unruly child to a child seeking love and attention that he will never get from his mother. The most miserable time in Sunny’s young life is his stay with the Villierses, where he is again mistreated by people who ostensibly, given that they are his grandparents, love and protect him. Sunny’s relationship with Teddy is stronger and helps him thrive but does not stop Sunny from attempting suicide when he is in college. 

Sunny is the member of the Todd family who goes to the most drastic lengths to achieve peace and happiness. He becomes a Buddhist and a famous meditation and yoga teacher in Bali. When Viola visits him, Sunny lives the life and concepts that he teaches to others and appears to be at ease with himself and his place in the world. He manages to let go of his past in a way that Viola and Teddy never do, and he accepts the present moment as the most important one. If anyone can actually escape his or her past, Sunny does. His transformation is a symbol of overcoming abuse and neglect—that one does not have to persist in victimhood, and legitimate enlightenment might be available to those who seek it. 

Ursula gets less time in the novel than the other major characters, but her effect on Teddy is profound. She is one of his sisters, and the only person in the story who truly dotes on him. As children, Ursula reads him stories at night. She and Teddy tease each other affectionately in most of their scenes together. It is Ursula who gives Teddy the silver hare that will keep him safe, and it is Ursula whom Teddy misses the most after her death. She is a symbol of the good that a treasured sibling can do. All of the memories that Teddy has of Ursula are fond ones, and she is never to be found at the center of contention.