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Jeremy Crawford’s character unfolds gradually, only revealing its depth and complexity as the story progresses and Lowen, the narrator, gets to know him. Initially, Jeremy is portrayed as a loving husband and father.. He is dedicated to his family and strives to be a good example for his son Crew, despite the hardships following his wife’s accident and the deaths of his daughters. The connection he feels with Lowen—as the reader later learns—allows him to renew his hope in finding companionship and understanding in a partner.
Jeremy’s journey through the novel is not a smooth one. His twin daughters die one after the other, and then his wife is seriously hurt in a car accident. Lowen tries to handle him gently, as her situation in his household is delicate. When he begins his sexual relationship with Lowen, he also begins to admit that his relationship with his wife was not perfect. This is an important aspect of the novel’s narrative of many possible truths: Jeremy’s story is almost as inaccessible to Lowen as Verity’s is. Jeremy’s moral fiber is tested as he maneuvers through many different versions of his feelings of betrayal. His interactions with Lowen become an important coping mechanism for these difficulties. As more and more comes to light about his marriage and his wife’s true personality, Lowen’s presence helps him to find solace, hope, and perspective amidst the chaos.
As the story culminates in his confrontation with Verity, Jeremy loses his temper and allows his protective anger and vengeful rage as a grieving father to dictate his behavior. After he murders Verity, he believes that the influence she had over the family is gone. The reader knows, however, that Lowen has made the decision not to inform him about the letter she found to him from Verity. Lowen believes that Jeremy is too fragile to process the information and that it would haunt him. In a way, Jeremy ends the novel in the same way he began it. He is a “Chronic” through and through; someone whose life is tied to tragedy and deception. He begins and ends the book with a partner who is not above concealing vital information in order to achieve her own desires.
