Lloyd Barnes Character Analysis in The Night Watchman

Lloyd Barnes is a math teacher and boxing coach who trains Wood Mountain and Patrice’s brother, Pokey, among others. In his mind, Barnes attaches numbers to people. He sees Patrice, with whom he’s infatuated, as a “26” because he loves the curl of the two and the loop of the six. He often shows up at the Paranteau home uninvited after dropping Pokey off, hoping he might be able to speak with Patrice. On one of those visits, Patrice’s mother, Zhaanat—hoping to get him to stop trying to get Patrice’s attention—tells him that he smells bad. He becomes frustrated and angry when he learns that Wood Mountain also has feelings for Patrice, but Barnes eventually ends up dating Patrice’s friend Valentine while having feelings for another friend, Doris, as well. He helps train Wood Mountain for the fight against Joe Wobble, which is a fundraiser for the delegation that will travel to Washington, D.C., to testify against Arthur V. Watkins’s Termination Bill.

Lloyd Barnes Character Timeline in The Night Watchman

The timeline below shows where the character Lloyd Barnes appears in The Night Watchman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Power, Solidarity, and Community Action Theme Icon

Lloyd Barnes’s smartest math student the year before also practices boxing with him. He goes by the... (full context)

Barnes goes back home to the teachers’ quarters. The caretaker/cook, Juggie Blue, always keeps a heaping... (full context)

Oppression and Supposed Good Intentions Theme Icon

...back from the post office, needing time to think. When she gets home, she sees Barnes’s car stuck in the mud. He is trying to push it out with Pokey behind... (full context)

...rings 15 seconds before the round is supposed to end. “Foul! Foul! Fifteen seconds left,” Barnes yells. (full context)

...to Rugby, Doris asks Patrice if she has a boyfriend. She says she’s heard that Barnes likes her. Patrice says she hasn’t heard anything about it. After a while, Doris asks... (full context)

In his mind, Barnes, a math teacher, attaches numbers to people. Patrice he sees as a 26, even though... (full context)

...doesn’t seem right to her, so she sits in the back. The man smells like Barnes, Patrice thinks, but also like he’s already had a drink. (full context)

Barnes waits for Wood Mountain at a restaurant in the Powers Hotel in Fargo. When Wood... (full context)

...will discourage him. She admits to herself, though, that it is much easier to discourage Barnes than Wood Mountain. (full context)

Barnes feels anger rising in him, wondering how he’ll deal with Wood Mountain’s betrayal. After all... (full context)

Barnes drives Wade home and talks with Thomas about the meeting and the bill. Barnes says... (full context)

...Patrice had believed her mother but is still surprised. To try and get Patrice’s attention, Barnes starts to give Pokey gifts, first boxing magazines, and then a brand new red and... (full context)

...dance, where everyone dances to Mr. Jarvis’s records. After the dance, Valentine and Doris offer Barnes a ride and say they’re on their way to a bush dance, which will have... (full context)

...on all night. In different visits to the woods, first with Doris and then Valentine, Barnes experienced kissing like he never had before. But he has feelings for Patrice, Barnes thinks.... (full context)

Thomas finds Barnes in the church and floats the idea of Barnes putting up a boxing card with... (full context)

The same week, Joe Wobble walks into the café where Barnes is eating. Barnes proposes the idea of the fight to Joe. Joe thinks about it... (full context)

...as Patrice chops wood. With each thwack, Wood Mountain feels a crack in his chest. Barnes gets his uncle to give Wood Mountain some boxing lessons. He brings an electric turntable... (full context)

...us. When Valentine asks Patrice if she’s going to ask who “he” is, Patrice says, “Barnes?” Valentine asks if Barnes told her, and Patrice, feeling mischievous, says that he did. Patrice,... (full context)

Wood Mountain trains with Barnes in secret so that he won’t be seen not wearing the fake cast. The only... (full context)

...realized that when she conducted her study, people had spoken in English for her benefit. Barnes sits in what he thinks of as his monk cell, thinking of the three women... (full context)

Juggie hands Barnes a cigarette as they sit at the kitchen table. Juggie tells him to give up,... (full context)

Barnes is frustrated that Valentine is spurning his advances. He thinks that things won’t change until... (full context)

It’s a case of mutual exasperation. One night when Barnes drops Valentine off, she says goodbye and that she means it. Barnes asks if that... (full context)