Character Description...Cloyd

Cloyd Longpre is a very intersting character. He trys to present himself as if he is a nice clean cut man.

"He was wearing a fake blue suit and tie. I never saw him in one ever again. Also, his hair was all pomade oil. That also would be the only time it was so neat that they could see the comb lines." p.9
"He was trying to show he was, you know, intersted in me. That I mattered to him." p.10

Longpre was always ranting and ragging about his elks that he killed and mounted on his wall. "It was how killing them meant how much better he thought he was than me." p.30

Longpre had Sonny doing chores around the apartment complex to earn his keep without really making it seem that that was the exact reason he was doing it. "You don't mind, right? It's a big help. One less distraction for me, and the business I got plenty of distraction with already." "Good man," he said. "Good man." p.32

Cloyd wants to be a nice person to Sonny but in reality he is a drunk who has a big head. He thinks he is a gift from God to those around him and the truth comes out when he drinks.

"Cloyd was already red-eyed, and he was wearing that hick smile I hated the most and swirling that ice cube." "Hey you," he told me. "Come and shake hands."
"This is my son," Cloyd told the man. p.88

Cloyd is a tight wad with his money and his friend Mr.Womack lets that be known.
"You got to get good grub while you can, because I know this cheap bastard Longpre ain't feeding you steaks, is he?"p.90
Cloyd responds with, "Listen now, you don't gotta go let him in on that! I don't think he'd even noticed yet!"

Cloyd was always blasted from drinking. He was always in his office with a full glass of whiskey. He was always demanding respsect from Sonny and other's around him like Silvia. "Don't talk to me like that!" "You talk to me with respect, you understand?"  "He was drunk, the red in the bulb of his eyes at the bottom like it sank down there, or they were the roots growing off the blue above."p.126

Sometimes he tried to be funny when he was blasted. "He had the dumbest look on his face ever, smiling like-well, I'd heard him do that a couple of times. He'd cut one, then say, Speak again, sweet lips, I'll find you! He thought it was the funniest shit ever." p.115

Cloyd character is very complex for me. I want to think of him as a good guy taking Sonny and Silvia into his home and trying to be a family man, but then when he goes on his drinking binges I see him as a pompous jerk. He becomes this controlling man. He wants Silvia to be home waiting on him hand and foot and for Sonny to work around the complex to earn his keep and to be rarely seen and not heard. I am at the piont where Silvia is bored so it will be interesting to see what is going to come of this relationship.