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Leo Logan
James Gadd is a fifty-five-year-old executive in an advertising agency. The pilot of the balloon featured in the novel’s opening chapter, Gadd attempts to save the life of his grandson, Harry Gadd, who is trapped in the balloon’s basket. He is later found to have violated a number of safety procedures.
James Gadd Quotes in Enduring Love
The Enduring Love quotes below are all either spoken by James Gadd or refer to James Gadd. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
I should make something clear. There may have been a vague communality of purpose, but we were never a team. There was no chance, no time. Coincidences of time and place, a predisposition to help, had brought us together under the balloon. No one was in charge—or everyone was, and we were in a shouting match.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Joe makes this claim about the men who participate in the balloon rescue attempt with him. The contrast Joe draws between “communality of purpose” and “teamwork” is a crucial one. Joe realizes that, because of the hurried and chaotic circumstances of the attempted rescue, the men lack the time and inclination to truly work together. As a result, they display no real loyalty to each other, working at cross purposes. A real team with a proper decision-making structure would have inspired far more loyalty; here, loyalty is difficult if not impossible. It’s worth noting, too, that throughout the book, Joe Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. R
Every fraction of a second that passed increased the drop, and the point must come when to let go would be impossible or fatal. And compared with me, Harry was safe, curled up in the basket. The balloon might well come down safely at the bottom of the hill. And perhaps my impulse to hang on was nothing more than a continuation of what I had been attempting moments before, simply a failure to adjust quickly.
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Joe describes in this passage his moment of decision as he hangs in the air, slowly losing his grip on one of the hot-air balloon’s ropes. He understands that he has a duty to be loyal to the group’s attempted rescue—a matter of simple human decency—but he knows, as well, that the men holding on to the balloon’s other ropes may themselves let go at any moment. Thus, Joe is hopelessly torn between altruism and self-preservation: he wants to be loyal, but he understands that loyalty may have too steep a cost. As somebody who analyzes even the smiles of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui a
Chapter 3 Quotes
I said, “We tried to help and we failed.”
She smiled and shook her head. I went and stood by her chair and put my arms around her and protectively kissed the top of her head. With a sigh she pressed her face against my shirt and looped her arms around my waist. Her voice was muffled. “You’re such a dope. You’re so rational sometimes you’re like a child.”
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After leaving the scene of the ballooning accident and returning to their apartment, Joe and Clarissa discuss at length the events of the afternoon, attempting to comfort each other and to determine who is to blame for John Logan’s death. As a more intuitive character than Joe, Clarissa has another goal, as well: she wants to wring some meaning from what has happened, and she is playfully frustrated by Joe’s unwillingness to do so. For Clarissa, the truth of the accident cannot be as simple as Joe’s conclusion that they “tried to help and . . . failed.” To speak Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delect
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James Gadd Character Timeline in Enduring Love
The timeline below shows where the character James Gadd appears in Enduring Love. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...From its basket dangles a series of ropes, and clinging to one is Harry’s grandfather, James Gadd , who is trying desperately to prevent the wind from carrying the balloon away.
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...cries issue is “the size of a house,” and the man trying to secure it, James Gadd , is being “half dragged, half carried across the field.” As Joe springs into action,...
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...two farm laborers, Joseph Lacey and Toby Greene. The four men join John Logan and James Gadd among the ropes, and each takes hold of one of them as James Gadd shouts...
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Though James Gadd attempts to direct the men to whatever strategy he has in mind, he is “exhausted...
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...beside him is his friend Toby Greene. The next man in the makeshift semicircle is James Gadd , and immediately next to him—across from Joe—is Jed Parry.
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...he, Joseph Lacey, and Toby Greene are trying to pull Harry Gadd from the basket, James Gadd is trying to climb over them, and Jed Parry and John Logan are shouting their...
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As a consequence of James Gadd ’s being knocked aside, the balloon begins to rise into the air, taking the five...
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Chapter 2
...his friend, Toby Greene, who “cannot stand,” while Jed Parry is next to Joe, and James Gadd is a few steps away, shouting about his grandson, Harry, who is still in the...
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Chapter 3
...table.” First Clarissa speaks, then Joe interrupts, and vice versa. Together, they “heap curses on” James Gadd “and his incompetence,” but they are drawn inevitably back to what they could have done...
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Chapter 17
...whether Jean’s husband was alone in the moments before the accident. Similarly unhelpful has been James Gadd , who has declared that he will only talk about the accident “in the coroner’s...
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