Who Is Uncle Nathan In The Skating Party

In the skating party, Uncle Nathan is a very different and complex character. Throughout the story, he show’s to be very regretful, confused, and secretive. Uncle Nathan constantly holds a burden for many years and hides the truth that he chose to save Delia rather than his own fiancée even though many thought he was simply unable to distinguish the two from while drowning. By doing this Uncle Nathans character shows to be secretive. At the end of the story while confessing the truth Uncle Nathan admits "I couldn't see their faces." The sound of old winters was in his voice, a sound of infinite sadness. "But I could see their hands on the edge of the ice," he said. "The one pair of arms had white fur around them. »And I reached for the other …show more content…
He seems rather unsure whether he truly likes Eunice and because he only admired her for looking like her sister proves how he was confused. He thought he liked Eunice but in the back of his mind he loved Delia and only wanted Eunice because of her similarities to her sister. He showed confusion as he thought he would get married to Eunice but had not realized he was only with Eunice because he could not be with his true love Delia so he rather settled for her sister. In the end of the story, it is revealed Uncle Nathan had been lying for years and it appeared he felt terrible about what happened, so bad he decided to never marry. Because he chose to live the rest of his in sorrow and guilt without a partner he shows that he regret and that in the end, he was unable to get past it. He admits that he chose to not save his wife. In conclusion, Uncle Nathan is a very sad character who made the wrong decision at the wrong time. He truly believed that he loved his fiancée but in the end, his actions suggest