Ken Worley is Luke's father. Ken's cynical attitude puts him at odds with Luke, who wants to believe that moving to the country was the right decision. During Ken's visit to his son's new home in the small, rural town of Garra Nalla, Ken is skeptical of country life. Luke doesn't argue with Ken about this, but their conversation reinforces the novel's tension between nature and civilization. Ken also sheepishly brings up "that business" with Luke's wife Anna, which serves as the first major hint that she might have had a miscarriage. Ken doesn't appear much in the novel, but his presence always tightens the dramatic tension and introduces doubt into the situation.
Ken Quotes in Vertigo
The Vertigo quotes below are all either spoken by Ken or refer to Ken. 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 2
Quotes
My God, he can’t even name it, thinks Luke in a spasm of bitter scorn. Typical. His father never could deal with the messy human dimension of feeling. But then as he watches the spray foam up from the blowhole, for the first time it occurs to him that the ‘other business’ might have been painful for Ken, a man with no grandchildren.
Related Characters:
Anna Worley, Luke Worley , Ken
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Ken Character Timeline in Vertigo
The timeline below shows where the character Ken appears in Vertigo. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...the idea of moving to the country. Luke’s parents are more skeptical, though Luke’s father Ken admits that the polluted air in the city is probably what caused Anna’s asthma. While...
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Chapter 2
Luke’s father Ken visits Garra Nalla in July, seeming restless as he gets accustomed to his new retirement....
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Luke and Anna continue to tolerate the presence of Ken, who tries unsuccessfully not to seem bored. Anna privately jokes about Ken, comparing him to...
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...a depressing light. As Luke reads this, he can’t help but compare Treves’s commentary to Ken’s skeptical and cynical attitude. He reflects on Sir Frederick’s disillusionment; can such a dry and...
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