The Partner

Patrick Lanigan is an anti-hero with a mix of sympathetic and unsympathetic characteristics. The complexity of his character helps the novel explore the boundaries of good and evil. He is calculating and a thief. He uses his friend’s body to fake his own death. He also defrauded the life insurance company that paid out to his wife and her child. To his credit, Patrick is also bold, meticulous, intelligent, and vulnerable, as he demonstrates by falling in love with Eva and trusting her. The love story between them makes him a sympathetic character and shows that he is capable of real feeling.

The crimes Patrick has committed are mitigated by their circumstances and his backstory shows that he was a well-meaning, unhappy young lawyer who saw an opportunity to escape with relatively little moral sacrifice. His character prompts the reader to consider how they themselves might behave in his circumstances. The novel engages the reader’s vicarious sympathy through Patrick’s dream of escape from a life of drudgery and disappointment. This is what creates the heist anti-hero dynamic, where the reader is meant to empathize with and root for an “everyman” underdog. Initially, Patrick planned to live a simple life, supporting himself modestly.