Roger Shears
Roger Shears (right) loses his temper with Christopher (from a recent UK tour of Gielgud theatre production)
Roger Shears becomes the prime suspect in Christopher's investigation of the murder of Wellington the dog. He is the only person Christopher can think of that might not like Mrs Shears, as they are divorced. The audience meets Roger when Christopher goes to London to find his mother. During Christopher's stay at their flat he is initially reluctantly accommodating but increasingly loses his patience with him, becoming more and more sarcastic and eventually loses his temper with Christopher.
| How is Roger like this? | Evidence | Analysis | |
| Lacks understanding | Roger can be quite sarcastic about the way Judy looks after Christopher. He lacks understanding of Christopher's behaviour. | "A gold star. Well that鈥檚 very original I have to say." | Roger shows a lack of understanding of Christopher's behaviour and does not appreciate that he needs encouragement to eat at this point in the play. Although strategies like this seem childish, they might help Christopher. |
| Short tempered | At first Roger accommodates Christopher when he arrives at the flat but eventually he grows tired of the strain he puts on his relationship with Judy which results in him aggressively grabbing Christopher. | "You think you're so clever don't you? Don't you ever, ever think about other people for one second, eh? Well I bet you鈥檙e really pleased with yourself now aren't you?" | Roger asks Christopher this series of questions whilst he is drunk. They reveal how little he understands Christopher and his unique behaviour, Christopher is very clever but he is not arrogant and whilst he doesn't actively do things for others he is not selfish. |
| Lacks understanding | |
|---|---|
| How is Roger like this? | Roger can be quite sarcastic about the way Judy looks after Christopher. He lacks understanding of Christopher's behaviour. |
| Evidence | "A gold star. Well that鈥檚 very original I have to say." |
| Analysis | Roger shows a lack of understanding of Christopher's behaviour and does not appreciate that he needs encouragement to eat at this point in the play. Although strategies like this seem childish, they might help Christopher. |
| Short tempered | |
|---|---|
| How is Roger like this? | At first Roger accommodates Christopher when he arrives at the flat but eventually he grows tired of the strain he puts on his relationship with Judy which results in him aggressively grabbing Christopher. |
| Evidence | "You think you're so clever don't you? Don't you ever, ever think about other people for one second, eh? Well I bet you鈥檙e really pleased with yourself now aren't you?" |
| Analysis | Roger asks Christopher this series of questions whilst he is drunk. They reveal how little he understands Christopher and his unique behaviour, Christopher is very clever but he is not arrogant and whilst he doesn't actively do things for others he is not selfish. |