Lance Character Analysis in The End of the Affair

Lance is Mr. Parkis’s son and apprentice in the art of following people for Mr. Savage, who runs a private detective agency. Lance often helps his father by keeping watch and deflecting suspicion. At one point, Bendrix uses Lance to help him see Richard Smythe himself after learning that Sarah was going to his house regularly. After becoming ill with something requiring surgery (possibly appendicitis), Lance requests a memento from Sarah, who has been dead for a while but who made an impression on Lance. Henry, who receives the request and thinks it’s simply from a friend of Sarah’s, sends one of her childhood books without noticing that she wrote an inscription in it about reading it while “sick in bed.” Not long after receiving the book, Lance mysteriously heals overnight, and Mr. Parkis sends the book back to Henry and Bendrix with a letter about what happened.

Lance Character Timeline in The End of the Affair

The timeline below shows where the character Lance appears in The End of the Affair. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Adultery, Deception, and Honesty Theme Icon

...as “Mr. Savage’s man” and hands Bendrix the first report and expenses sheet (which his son has helped complete). As Bendrix goes over the expense sheet, he realizes that he recognizes... (full context)

Faith, Acceptance, and the Divine Theme Icon

Bendrix reads the report Mr. Parkis and his son wrote up, which includes an account of Sarah meeting a man at a café and... (full context)

...he was the man. Mr. Parkis is embarrassed and worried about what to tell his son, who admires his profession. Bendrix tries to reassure Mr. Parkis, but Mr. Parkis insists that... (full context)

...that he only wants to see Smythe, and he devises a plan to use Parkis’s son (Lance) to get into the apartment: he would knock on the door and pretend he... (full context)

The next day Bendrix takes Lance to Cedar Road to try to see Richard Smythe. Bendrix instructs Lance to pretend to... (full context)

Richard looks closely at Bendrix and Lance before proclaiming that he’s seen Lance around somewhere. Bendrix tries to take Lance and leave,... (full context)

...off to see the funeral because Sarah was “a very fine lady.” Bendrix asks where Lance is and Parkis explains that Lance is ill with “violent stomachaches” and hadn’t been able... (full context)

...who claimed to know Sarah and wanted to have something of hers to give his son. Bendrix explains, to Henry’s surprise, who Parkis is, and then he agrees to move into... (full context)

...a letter. In the letter, Mr. Parkis explains that he asked for the book because Lance, who was sick and needed surgery, begged for a memento from Sarah. On the night... (full context)

...back over how Mrs. Bertram saved him from having dinner with Sylvia, the story about Lance and Sarah’s book, Richard’s cheek, and Sarah’s childhood baptism. Despite all of this, Bendrix thinks... (full context)