Previous Next

Ted is the narrator and protagonist of the story. He is characterized sympathetically, though he may be an unreliable narrator. Like all the characters in the story, there is little backstory provided for his life. Three of the people in the group are given sketches of lives before the story, but Ted has none. He claims that AM has altered everyone but left him and Ellen more or less as they were before. However, over the course of the story, Ted has moments that suggest a profound paranoia about the motivations of the others. This obsessive distrust makes sense if Ted believes that they have been changed by AM and he has not, but it also could suggest that Ted may not be entirely reliable in his impressions. 

Despite his growing suspicion about the others, Ted manages to make a decisive choice when the opportunity presents itself. Even if he believes that the group is “surely against” him, he possesses an inescapable empathy for the others. This understanding is brought to full flower after AM enters his mind and explains the depth of its hatred for humanity. In the ice cavern, in the brief window that Ted has to make a difference in the existence of those in the group, he acts. Murdering Benny and Gorrister, and then Ellen, ironically presents Ted as a deeply moral character. He commits a horrendous act to spare the group from further, even more horrendous torture. In a sense, this sacrifice redeems him as a heroic figure, even if he is ultimately punished for his kindness.

Previous section Character List Next section AM

Take a Study Break