Dorrigo Evans Character Analysis

Justifying the actions of Dorrigo Evans is necessary if one is to understand his character. Because the novel essentially beings with and makes common reference to Evans’s affair with Amy and his unfaithfulness to Ella, some automatically perceive him as a “bad” human. However, if one were to thoroughly evaluate his actions, they might come to the conclusion that Evan’s is no different than any other human. At some point in our lives, desire has gotten the best of all of us. We know it is immoral to lie, but 60% of us can’t have a ten minute conversation without doing so (Benjamin, Kathy). We know it is immoral to steal, but ten million cases of doing so have been recorded in the last five years (Shoplifting Statistics). We know it is …show more content…
Evans follows through with this because of his sympathetic nature. He can not let this man die without trying to save him, and following through with the procedure, when no other options have presented themselves, is a symbol of his courage. Evans could have given up and refused the surgery after seeing the infected ulcer on the man’s leg, but after “all he could do not to vomit (238)”, he went on and made a remarkable effort. This says more about Evans’s nature than it does his ability. Even though the surgery did fail, his attempt was an internal war, like a puzzle. He took all the steps he could to try to spare Rainbow’s life, each move needing to be made directly after the previous. Evans was fighting against the campground, the heat, and the lack of supplies - but he did not give up. He is a determined individual. Many years after the war, his desire has not left him and he has managed to maintain the same compassionate demeanor that he always had. When he sees Amy on the bridge, after many years thinking she was dead, it is very clear the heartbreak he experiences over again - first when he presumed her killed in the fire, and now, when he neglects to make himself known in her