Henry Denton In We Are The Ants

A million things come to mind when the name Henry Denton is said. Henry Denton is the main character and narrator in the novel We Are the Ants, and is the strongest character in a novel that was made recently. Although Henry may be strong, he does have his weak sides. Henry is depressed, stressed out, overthinking, and he has a tragic home life; unironically, that is how he is so strong. Henry is also creative and loyal but he does tend to hold on to the past. Out of all of the things said about Henry, the three that stick out the most are that he is strong, he is creative, and he overthinks things. Henry Denton is stronger than the U.S. army. While at home he has to deal with his older brother, Charlie telling him that he is the reason their dad left. He has to watch his own grandmother slowly lose her memory and every ability that has to do with remembering. Also at home his mother is depressed and does not have a lot of money to support their household. He takes care of his grandmother, keeps Charlie in order, and tries to inspire his mom to keep doing what she loves, cooking. On top of it all, his boyfriend, Jesse committed suicide last year and Henry believes that he is the one to blame. To cope with the grief of Jesse, Henry gets in an unhealthy relationship with the most popular guy in school, …show more content…
“Sometimes I think it’s my fault [Jesse’s suicide]. Other times Audrey’s. Or maybe his parents’. I just need someone to blame. Might as well be me” (Hutchinson 254). Henry blames himself for Jesse’s suicide when in reality it was not his fault. He does not realize that sometimes people are depressed and incidents happen. Henry thinks his new boyfriend, Diego hates him after one little fight. Charlie has also convinced Henry that their dad left because Henry is so messed up, “Mom? Did dad leave because of me?” (417). Henry always thinks that everything is either his fault or has something bad to do with