Neil Klugman

Character Analysis

Twenty-three-year-old Neil is our leading man. He has a degree in philosophy and also spent some two years in the army. He currently has a job at the public library in Newark, New Jersey. He loves Newark, which is also where he was born and raised, but he isn't so sure about the library. When he meets the wealthy and beautiful Brenda, he feels he must choose between his library life and a job at her father's store, Patimkin Sinks. Neil feels that the only way he'll be able to rake in enough dough to be Brenda's husband is to work with her father. Insecurity, manipulation, awe, humor, and social commentary are the forces that drive him to his ultimate conclusion—that the library might what he's been looking for all along. We cover that important aspect of Neil in "What's Up With the Ending?"

Neil and Brenda

Hello-Brenda-Brenda-you-don't-know-me-that-is-you-don't-know-my-name-but-I-held-your-glasses-for-you-at-the-club… (1.47)

These are the first words Neil says to Brenda. He wants to identify himself really fast and establish that he's not some creep. It also sounds like he's afraid Brenda will just hang up if he doesn't talk fast enough. We're guessing Neil's nervousness lets Brenda know that the call isn't easy for him and that it really means something. Come on, when was the last time you called someone you didn't know out of nowhere? Since Brenda asked him and not some other guy to hold her glasses, we can assume she thinks he's hot, and therefore finds this flattering and endearing.

Now let's see what's happening on Neil and Brenda's first date:

"Is that where you go to school?" I ask.

"No. I got to school in Boston."

I disliked her answer. […] For an instant Brenda reminded me of the pug-nosed little bastards from Montclair who come down to the library during vacations […]. (1.76-1.78)

Pug-nosed you say, Neil? We learn that noses are a sensitive issue with Neil. He gets huffy and downright judgmental again when he learns that Brenda has had a nose job. Neil's not the only one upset. So is the Journal of American Medicine: "The Jewish Nose Job and Plastic Surgery" discusses some of the chilling reasons for the rash of nose jobs among Jewish people. This is a hugely complicated issue that can withstand endless debate. But does that really give Neil the right to be so critical of Brenda? Ironically, he may be criticizing her because he thinks she's hurt herself by changing her appearance, but, in a way, his criticism is hurtful as well. Jeez, come to your senses, Neil… that's no way to woo a lady.

Neil does get sweeter. He and Brenda spend every tender moment of the summer together that they can. When he's at the library, he thinks of her. When she's with others, he visits places they visited together. But his anger persists along with the initial fear that Brenda will disappear at any moment. Despite the growing love between them, there are lots of early warning signs that the relationship could be headed for disaster.

On the other hand, until the diaphragm drama, it's hard not to get caught up in Brenda and Neil's romance. For much of the story they are in a private world where they are each other's everything. When Brenda goes back to school Neil really feels the loss of her. He says:

Let's see, what else did I do? I ate, I slept, I went to the movies. […] I did everything I'd ever done before. […] There was no flow, for that had been Brenda. (8.4)

As we discuss in "What's Up With the Ending?," Neil's self-examination in the Harvard library window shows him that perhaps there is flow in his life after all. Did it have to end this way? Could Neil or Brenda have said something in the hotel room that might have changed everything?

Neil and the Boy

Neil protects the boy's right to read in the library. He even risks his job to make sure the book featuring Paul Gauguin's depictions of Tahiti (see "What's Up With the Title?") is constantly available. What a hero. Much of Neil's relationship with the boy exists only in his head. Still, the relationship totally helps to make a sympathetic protagonist of Neil, who sometimes seems like a bit of an anti-hero. Being able to help the boy also shows Neil that his work in the library has real meaning. He can use his position in the library to make a positive difference in the community. Maybe all of Neil's outrage comes from a real desire to save the world—though he'll need to learn to be a little more open-minded to achieve his goal. But what do you expect? He's only twenty-three.

Sabotage?

"Then why else did you do it? You wanted her to find it!" (8.214)

In Brenda's "Character" section, we look at Neil's accusation that she intended her mother to find the diaphragm. It's a little ironic that Neil accuses her of this since it could be said that he's the one who used the diaphragm to orchestrate the break-up. He definitely makes a lot of jerk moves here. For one, he's asking her to do something she really, really doesn't want to do only to increase his own "pleasure" (6.54-55). Maybe, he's trying to prove that Brenda doesn't want the diaphragm because it it's him asking, and not a boy of her own social and economic class. It seems like Neil can definitely be selfish and insecure at times. Check out what Neil says right before Brenda goes up to the doctor for the diaphragm:

"Do you have cab fare?"

"Aren't you going to come with me?

"I thought I'd wait in the bar. Here, downstairs." (7.2-5)

We're guessing he's not winning too many points with Brenda here. It's almost like he's trying to see just how far he can push her. Even after her mother and father find out about it, Brenda might have been willing to stay in the relationship. It could be said that by accusing Brenda of sabotage, he's the one doing the sabotaging.