Previous
Harry Gadd
Joseph Lacey is a sixty-three-year-old farm laborer and the best friend of fellow-laborer Toby Greene. During the ballooning accident, Lacey attempts to hold down the balloon, and then he assists Toby when he falls from his rope and breaks his ankle. A former paratrooper, Lacey is unhurt by his own fall.
Joseph Lacey Quotes in Enduring Love
The Enduring Love quotes below are all either spoken by Joseph Lacey or refer to Joseph Lacey. 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:
).
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.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
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.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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
Get the entire Enduring Love LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Joseph Lacey Character Timeline in Enduring Love
The timeline below shows where the character Joseph Lacey appears in Enduring Love. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...the field, he is met by the remaining men: Jed Parry and two farm laborers, Joseph Lacey and Toby Greene. The four men join John Logan and James Gadd among the ropes,...
(full context)
...“a family doctor from Oxford” and a member of a mountaineering club. Further along is Joseph Lacey , an older farm laborer, and beside him is his friend Toby Greene. The next...
(full context)
...men are “breathless, excited, [and] determined on [their] separate plans.” Joe explains that while he, Joseph Lacey , and Toby Greene are trying to pull Harry Gadd from the basket, James Gadd...
(full context)
...the balloon begins to rise into the air, taking the five remaining men—Joe, Jed Parry, Joseph Lacey , Toby Greene, and John Logan—with it. Joe recounts the infinitesimally brief moment of thought...
(full context)
...go of his rope and falls to the ground, as, around him, do Jed Parry, Joseph Lacey , and Toby Greene. Only John Logan continues to hang on, and with only his...
(full context)
Chapter 2
...memory, Joe pauses to consider the respective positions of the other men in the field. Joseph Lacey is helping his friend, Toby Greene, who “cannot stand,” while Jed Parry is next to...
(full context)
Chapter 17
...that he will only talk about the accident “in the coroner’s court.” Upon Joe’s reaching Joseph Lacey , however, his luck has changed. Though Lacey has insisted on meeting in person, he...
(full context)
Chapter 24
“Two weeks after the shooting,” Joe travels to Joseph Lacey ’s home to keep their appointment. The next day, he arranges a picnic much like...
(full context)
...at the college. Instead, they made their way to a nearby pub, where they encountered Joseph Lacey , who was in the process of telling a “group of regulars” about the botched...
(full context)
