Gray After Dark

Brent is Miley’s best friend, biathlon teammate, and love interest. He is the secondary narrator of the novel, and his first-person perspective reveals his profound devotion to Miley. Brent’s habit of telling Miley, “I got you” (178), encapsulates his loyalty and reliability.

Brent’s character is driven by his single-minded determination to find Miley when she goes missing. His intimate knowledge of Miley’s character and routines provides crucial insight when searching the vast Frank Church Wilderness. For example, his suggestion that Miley’s route likely included a lake to swim in leads to identifying the spot where she was abducted. Brent refuses to give up, even when the police conclude that Miley was killed in a bear attack.

Brent begins his journey with character flaws that he must overcome to effectively search for Miley. His tendency to let his emotions overwhelm him at times of high pressure is illustrated by his past performance at the Beijing Olympics. Despite initially leading his leg of the race, he lost his focus when another skier overtook him. When Miley disappears, Brent initially struggles with overriding feelings of fear, anger, and powerlessness. He also feels a competitive antagonism toward Wes, whom he perceives as a romantic rival. These emotions come to a peak when Wes voices his belief that Miley was killed in a bear attack, and Brent punches him. However, recognizing that his strong personal feelings cloud his logic, Brent puts them aside and works collaboratively with Wes.

In the search for Miley, Brent’s skills as a biathlete come to the fore. His stamina and endurance are tested as he treks for weeks with little food. At the novel’s climax, he is forced to put his advice to Miley into practice, as controlling his breathing techniques help him survive a collapsed lung.

Fred is the novel’s primary antagonist and the main instigator of Miley’s abduction. The first description of Fred conveys a man whose elderly appearance belies a brutal power. While he has “weathered tan skin […] covered in liver-colored age spots” (71), there is “nothing feeble about his grip on the rifle” (71). The near concealment of Fred’s facial features by “shaggy whiskers the color of soot” denotes his representation of the darkest aspects of human nature (71).

Fred is a static character who does not evolve in the course of the narrative. The more brutal and sadistic of Miley’s abductors, he presents a constant physical and sexual threat. He has delusions of grandeur and presents himself and his son as the last of the true survivalists. The narrative conveys how he abuses his power over the natural world, killing wildlife indiscriminately rather than living in harmony with the environment. Fred’s claim that he is Miley and Mary’s “savior” is juxtaposed with his inhumanity, which is symbolized by Mary’s missing eye. He maintains his status at the top of the household’s power hierarchy by instilling fear in the other characters. However, Miley ultimately undercuts his alpha male persona by killing him with a single shot from Brent’s rifle.

Fred’s son, Hamish, is the secondary antagonist of the novel. He becomes Miley’s enforced “husband” and is a product of his dysfunctional upbringing by Fred. His appearance speaks of isolation from society and neglect as his “yellow,” uneven teeth make Miley conclude “he’d never seen a dentist” (71). Meanwhile, his demeanor implies he has experienced physical abuse—despite being “head and shoulders taller” than Fred, Hamish “cower[s] like a child” when his father threatens him (86).

From Hamish’s first appearance in the novel, it is clear that he has been instilled with his father’s ideologies. His triumphant celebration of shooting a bull moose, causing it to drown, illustrates that he is inured to violence and shares his father’s disregard for the sanctity of life. Furthermore, he never questions Fred’s belief that abducting a woman is a valid way to acquire a wife.

Miley initially perceives that Hamish is the abductor she has the best chance of manipulating. His occasional intervention in Fred’s assaults of Miley seems to indicate a concealed compassionate streak. However, Miley soon realizes that Hamish’s concern for her welfare only extends to preserving her good looks. Viewing Miley as his possession, he dislikes the “idea of his new prize getting scuffed up” (81). Unlike his father, Hamish is not a static character. As he gains confidence in “taming” Miley, he becomes more ruthless, demonstrating the corrupting nature of power. By the end of the narrative, he has usurped his father’s position, posing the greatest threat to Miley.

When Miley first encounters Fred’s “wife” Mary, she describes her as a “strange, skinny woman with one eye” (121). The two female characters appear to be polar opposites, as Mary’s meek subservience and endorsement of her captors’ values contrasts with Miley’s defiance. However, when Mary is revealed to be the missing woman Rayna Carposa, the similarities between the female captives become apparent. Like Miley, Rayna was a gifted athlete who came to the Frank Church Wilderness to train. Mary’s former promise is emphasized by the cross-country running scholarship she was about to take up at Yale. Her revelation that she also defied Fred’s attempts to tame her and escaped for three days underscores how much she and Miley have in common. The fact that Mary is unrecognizable from the vibrant 19-year-old she once was demonstrates the effects of long-term isolation accompanied by physical and psychological abuse. She is both a model of what Miley must do to survive and a warning of what she may become. Mary’s assimilation of her captors’ ideologies demonstrates the loss of self that Miley fears she may experience.

Despite suffering from Stockholm syndrome, Mary displays traces of her former character in her interactions with Miley. Rayna shines through in her mischievous joy at taking Miley to the water pump without the men’s permission. The solace she derives from small things, such as the beauty of nature and the chickens, also demonstrates the resilience of her spirit. Her unexpected encounter with Wes, whom she remembers from her old life, prompts a dramatic character transformation as she sheds the persona of Mary. As Rayna, her character demonstrates courage and resourcefulness, playing a key role in saving Brent and killing her captors.