Luke Van Galder Character Analysis in The Immortalists

Luke is Varya’s son whom she gave up for adoption when he was an infant. As an adult, he tracks Varya down, hoping to learn about his past. Initially, Luke poses as a journalist with the San Francisco Chronicle to write a story about Varya’s primate research. After he spends a week at the Drake Institute, Luke reveals his true identity, which rattles Varya. While Luke has never met Varya before, he’s quite perceptive and frank—he’s the first person to explicitly tell her that her life choices aren’t making her happy, and that by obsessing over her own longevity, she’s sacrificing the things that make life fulfilling and meaningful. Luke also shares some of Varya’s OCD. He is afraid of accidentally killing people, which stems from the fact that when Luke was a toddler, he was supposed to stand guard as his older brother Asher checked a grain bin on their farm. Instead, Luke ran and hid, and Asher sank into the grain and suffocated. Luke and Varya connect over their fear of loss, and the two keep in touch after he tells Varya who he really is. His appearance in her life helps her to re-evaluate her priorities and change her future.

Luke Van Galder Quotes in The Immortalists

The The Immortalists quotes below are all either spoken by Luke Van Galder or refer to Luke Van Galder. 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:

“Because I’m sad,” says Luke, thickly. “Because to see you like this breaks my fucking heart. You cleared the decks: you had no husband, no kids. You could have done anything. But you’re just like your monkeys, locked up and underfed. The point is that you have to live a lesser life in order to live a longer one. Don’t you see that? The point is that you’re willing to make that bargain, you have made that bargain, but to what end? At what cost?”

Related Characters: Luke Van Galder (speaker), Varya Gold

Related Symbols: Frida

Page Number and Citation: 319

Explanation and Analysis:

Luke Van Galder Character Timeline in The Immortalists

The timeline below shows where the character Luke Van Galder appears in The Immortalists. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Afterward, Varya goes to meet with a journalist named Luke in the lab’s public marmoset exhibit. As she greets him, she assures him that the... (full context)

Varya guides Luke into the atrium of the Drake and they sit at a café. As she sits,... (full context)

Varya tells Luke about her research on longevity, which aims to increase the quality of late life. Luke... (full context)

The next day, Varya explains the two major theories about what prolongs life to Luke: the first is to suppress the reproductive system, and the second is to suppress caloric... (full context)

Varya brings Luke into the primate lab and helps him into protective gear. Luke then asks why she... (full context)

Varya brings Luke into the monkeys’ enclosure, which simulates their natural environment. She knows the monkeys would rather... (full context)

Varya shows Luke the calorie-restricted group and the control group. Luke takes photos of each group as they... (full context)

When Luke leaves, Varya retrieves Frida from the isolation chamber. She had placed Frida there so that... (full context)

For two more days, Luke helps out at the lab as he gets more material for his story. Varya is... (full context)

The next day, Friday, is also Luke’s last day, and Luke asks Varya to go for dinner or a drink after work... (full context)

Luke starts to ask if Varya’s siblings’ deaths are why she chose her field of study,... (full context)

Suddenly, Luke enters the room with the isolation chamber. He is still wearing his clothes from the... (full context)

...and out into the parking lot, hoping to put as much distance between her and Luke as possible. He shouts after her, threatening to sell his photos to an animal rights... (full context)

Varya drives to her condo while Luke follows. Seeing her condo through Luke’s eyes, she realizes how dark and ugly and bare... (full context)

Luke asks about his father. Varya explains that he was a visiting professor at her grad... (full context)

Luke asks what he was like as a baby; Varya responds that he had black hair... (full context)

Luke asks if Varya has been married or had another child. She says no—she hasn’t had... (full context)

Luke then reaches for the fridge, and before Varya can stop him, he sees her prepacked... (full context)

Luke asks why Varya does this to herself. He says it makes him sad that she... (full context)

Luke says that he’s experienced loss, too. He says that his older brother Asher died when... (full context)

Varya climbs into her car, intending to follow Luke, but she loses her nerve and drives to the lab, though everyone has left for... (full context)

...has lost so much, she feels like she now has little to lose. She calls Luke. When he picks up, she explains that she’s sorry for what happened to him and... (full context)

...critical mistake in the research and is leaving the Drake. She hasn’t told Gertie about Luke or that the two keep in touch. Luke occasionally sends pictures with his new girlfriend,... (full context)

Luke Van Galder Character Analysis

Luke Van Galder Quotes in The Immortalists

Chapter 34 Quotes

Luke Van Galder Character Timeline in The Immortalists