52 pages • 1 hour read
Lisa ThompsonThe Goldfish Boy
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Matthew Corbin
Matthew Corbin is the protagonist and narrator of The Goldfish Boy. Matthew is a 12-year-old boy living in a suburb outside London with his parents. From the novel’s outset, it is clear that Matthew is not like most boys his age. Rather than playing outside and socializing with other children his age, Matthew stays confined in his home, opting to observe the world around him through his bedroom window. Matthew’s desire to stay inside his home is the direct result of an intense, years-long phobia of germs. Matthew’s fear of germs is so extreme that he spends much of his time excessively washing himself and cleaning the surfaces around him. When Matthew’s mother grows worried about how his exorbitant use of bleach is affecting his skin, Sheila strikes a deal with her son: she will supply him with a box of latex gloves under the condition that he stop burning his hands with bleach. The expulsion of one crutch only leads to obsession with another, as Matthew becomes unhealthily reliant on his gloves, always keeping an exact count of the remaining pairs. Matthew’s dependence on the gloves is a major source of shame, as he keeps them hidden under his bed. Matthew’s shame about the gloves and the excessive cleaning and washing points to a broader sense of shame regarding his anxiety and reclusive tendencies. Matthew is aware that his behavior is unhealthy and destructive, and yet lacks the capacity—mentally and physically—to make necessary changes.
After attending a therapy session at the request of his worried mother, Matthew learns that he has obsessive-compulsive disorder. Matthew is deeply concerned about encountering germs, because he is terrified that such contact could lead to illness and death. As the story continues to unfold, Matthew makes occasional reference to his baby brother, Callum, who died shortly after birth. Matthew is convinced that he is personally responsible for Callum’s death, and lives in fear of causing harm to his loved ones. Matthew’s mental illness and associated compulsions trigger conflict within his family, as his parents grow frustrated about his behavior and resistance to receiving professional help.
Throughout the novel, Matthew learns to leave his social isolation behind and develops emotionally. Both his newfound friendship with Melody and rekindled bond with Jake help him widen his interactions outside of his home environment, while his investigation into Teddy’s disappearance gives him a sense of purpose that enables him to feel productive and needed. As he gets to know others better, he recognizes that other people have also endured forms of trauma and isolation: Melody spends time in a graveyard as a means of coping with her parents’ divorce; Jake has suffered from bullying due to allergies; Old Nina is still grieving the disappearance of her son years before. These discoveries make Matthew feel less alone while also developing his empathy and understanding toward others.
By the novel’s end, Matthew makes significant improvements toward healing from the trauma of Callum’s death and recovering from OCD. Matthew eventually agrees to continue therapy for his OCD, and his relationship with his parents grows stronger once he admits to the guilt he feels about Callum’s death. By the last chapter, Matthew makes a small but meaningful step toward recovery by joining everyone else at the barbeque. When Melody asks about his wellbeing, he confidently tells her, “I think I’m going to be fine,” signaling his newfound faith in himself and hope for the future.
Melody Bird
Melody Bird is a 12-year-old girl living in a suburb outside of London with her mother, Claudia. Melody is considered an outsider among her peers. Much like her neighbor, Matthew, she does not have many friends at school. Melody is viewed by her peers as strange and eccentric, particularly by her classmate and neighbor, Jake, who constantly mocks and belittles her.
Melody is outspoken and honest and shows clear interest in befriending Matthew. Though Matthew is reluctant to befriend Melody at first, he soon realizes that her empathy and caring nature make her a decent ally. When Matthew reveals to Melody why he has been missing from school and why he rarely leaves his house, she is empathetic and understanding. Like Matthew, Melody experienced hardship within her family at a young age, having witnessed her parents’ marriage dissolve before her. What is more, Melody has somewhat strange habits. Whereas Matthew is seen as strange by his neighbors for rarely ever leaving his house and his excessive cleaning, Melody too is seen as strange for her constant visits to the cemetery.
It is only once Matthew asks Melody to secretly purchase a new box of latex gloves for him—essentially solidifying their friendship—that Melody reveals the reasoning behind her visits to the cemetery. When her parents’ marriage was at its most tense, Melody would escape to the nearby cemetery for some quiet. It was there that she noticed the handwritten notes that people had left for their loved ones; moved by the touching words of people the deceased had left behind, Melody begins collecting the memorial cards and arranging them in a scrapbook for safekeeping. When Matthew is disturbed by her hobby, Melody is deeply hurt, telling him in an email, “There’s not much difference between us, Matthew. We’re loners, you and I. We don’t fit in” (163). Matthew’s insensitivity is contrasted with Melody’s empathy toward his confessions regarding his germaphobia: When he opens up to her, she responds with understanding and sympathy, allowing Matthew to make the first tentative steps toward recovery. The connection between Melody and Matthew—and their shared enthusiasm for investigating Teddy’s disappearance—enables Matthew to start opening up again to the world outside his home.
Old Nina
Old Nina is an elderly woman living alone in a Rectory. Nina is a widow and mother to a son who went missing when he was 11 years old. Immediately following the loss of her son, Nina turns on a lamp that sits in the window of the upper level of her house, believing that its bright orange glow will help guide her son back home. The fact that the lamp stays on for years suggests Nina’s undying love for her son and her unshakable faith that she will see him again someday.
Traumatized by the loss of her young son, Old Nina lives a reclusive lifestyle, only leaving her home to run errands once a week. Because she largely keeps to herself, Nina is regarded as somewhat of a mysterious figure among her neighbors. The children are deeply curious about her, and at times, even scared of her.
When Teddy goes missing, Matthew grows suspicious about Old Nina, convinced that she has kidnapped the child to replace her own missing son. In truth, Nina has nothing to do with the Teddy Dawson case, save for the new blanket she knits and gifts to him upon his return. Nina proves to be a caring woman and a faithful ally to Matthew near the end of the novel, when the two have a conversation in which Nina reveals that, like Matthew, she has not always had an easy life. Having noticed Matthew’s reclusive tendencies, she encourages Matthew to let go of his fears and live his life fully, “to go out there and dance in the rain” (275).
Nina functions largely as a parallel character to Matthew. Matthew—in his youth and with plenty of time to recover from his trauma and live an exciting, happy life—is all she could have been. Nina, having lived most of her life alone and confined to her house, haunted by her past, is all he could be if he does not choose a path of healing and recovery. However, the novel suggests that there is still hope for Nina as well: Nina’s uncharacteristic choice to leave her house and socialize with her neighbors at a barbeque at the end of the novel suggests that she intends to set a good example for Matthew and take her own advice.
Jake Bishop
Jake Bishop is a 12-year-old boy living with his mother, Sue, and older brother, Leo. Jake is neighbors with the novel’s protagonist, Matthew, and is his ex-best friend. Jake suffers from severe allergies, including a condition that left him with dry and scaly skin as a child. In early childhood, Jake’s medical condition ostracizes him from his peers, and leaves him susceptible to their constant taunting. By middle school, Jake changes tactics: unwilling to be bullied any longer, Jake begins socializing with a rough, older crowd, establishing himself as a rebel. In joining this social group, Jake effectively becomes a bully to avoid being bullied himself.
Throughout the novel, Jake often shows interest in the goings-on of his neighbors and classmates Melody and Matthew. Although Jake is consistently rude and aggressive toward both, his constant badgering stems from his desire to befriend and be accepted into their fold. When Melody and Matthew team up to try and solve the Teddy Dawson case, Jake is adamant about joining in their search. While Matthew is reluctant to accept his help, Jake solidifies himself as an ally when the two discover a key piece of evidence in the Teddy Dawson case together—evidence that gets Teddy’s kidnappers discovered and arrested. Jake’s eagerness to help and success in doing so reconciles him to both Matthew and Melody by the novel’s end, when they both agree that Jake is a good kid, and “just needs another chance” (296).
