I’ve been trying to put my finger on how Peter Taylor manages the deep character revelation he does while in such a subtle way, particularly by using the narrator voice to establish something often quite different than what the narrator says, or sometimes just in the way the narrator relates the story.
It’s been difficult to post examples because for one thing, Taylor builds a character very gradually and then further reading reinforces the point he is making. Therefore, taking something out of context is sort of useless without dragging a good percentage of the story into the statement. Going back is next to impossible to find the place where something is hinted at because again, the subtlety is easily missed. But here’s one that kind of represents what I’m seeing. This is from The Scoutmaster:
I used to hear Uncle Jake asking Father very gently why he was so "hard on" Virginia Ann and asking if he didn’t know that all "modern girls" were like that. And I would sit and wonder why he was so hard on her. (p. 267)
Now here’s a narrator who I’m guessing is a sibling of Virginia Ann who has spent the first few paragraphs of story telling the reader that a) Virginia Ann often uses trendy sentences that are in fashion at the time and b) Father and Mother are unable to "abide" this overuse.
But what we’re getting is so much more: Uncle Jake’s opinon, as well as his careful handling of the topic with his brother about his niece, and something even more important about the narrator, that he sides with Uncle Jake. Taylor doesn’t say that, but it is implied by the straightforward "And I would sit and wonder, etc."
Two more things: Everything is being "overheard," and Uncle Jake’s direct dialogue lays out the scenario more than Father confronting Virginia Ann–that means something right there about the parent/child relationship. And this, that Father (and Mother) repeat phrases themselves, i.e., the word "abide" which is more obvious in the next paragraph:
Yet Mother’s groans were as loud as Father’s when they heard Virginia Ann greeting her date at the front door with "Well, well, well, if it isn’t my country cousin!" I would turn my eyes to her and Father as soon as I heard Virginia Ann say this, for I knew it was one of the things they could not abide.
Aunt Grace lives there too; a sister of Mother’s who has divorced her husband. Grace also sticks up for Virginia Ann, but it is more obvious than her accusations might have us believe, that Mother and Father are proudest of their daughter and perhaps make these negative comments for the very purpose of being proven wrong and hearing praise as they themselves may be either too humble to offer, or too greedy for compliments on their skills as parents.
It’s all twisted in there, and Taylor makes us listen to his characters very carefully to glean the real story.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology