communist critique

Richard Ford’s Communist tells the story of a young boy who goes hunting with a man that used to be romantically linked to his mother. It is odd how the boy is so indifferent to a man he says he likes. He enjoys his conversations and his description of his hunts and trips to Asia, and yet doesn’t care if he marries his mother. When he leaves, presumably for good, he couldn’t care less; an unexpected response for the man that showed him the spectacle of the geese. Another oddity about Glen Baxter is that it is rare in the story for him to be identified as anything else. It seems only in dialogue where Glen is easier is his surname not mentioned. Perhaps this is to demonstrate that they were never close, you never call family or close friends by their full names, just strangers and people who are known by their full names, i.e. historical figures/celebrities. The fact that he is almost always referred to by his full name might indicate that Glen Baxtor is a name that the audience (or people in the fictional universe of the story) would or should recognize.