The Nurturer/the Man Character Analysis in Son

The Nurturer—whose name Claire never learns, and so she refers to him only as the Nurturer or “the man”—is the person who’s most involved in caring for Gabe at the Nurturing Center. He’s also Jonas’s father. Unlike many in the community, the man is perhaps more willing to break or bend the rules and do what’s right for his young charges. As such, he uses Gabe’s name in private and advocates for the Nurturing Center to keep Gabe another year before assigning him a family. However, he doesn’t seem prepared to fight the Committee of Elders’s decision to “release” Gabe when the boy continues to struggle. He doesn’t know that Claire is Gabe’s birthmother, but he encourages Claire to foster a relationship with the baby and is the one to tell her that Jonas ran away with him.

The Nurturer/the Man Character Timeline in Son

The timeline below shows where the character The Nurturer/the Man appears in Son. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...help feed her charges, but Claire asks to see the final group, 31-40. The uniformed man in that room jovially invites Claire to help feed the newchildren, so Claire says goodbye... (full context)

While Claire’s life doesn’t change, “everything [is] different” since meeting Thirty-six. She asked the man if the newchild had a name yet (when newchildren are given to their assigned parents... (full context)

The man cheerfully greets Claire when she returns to the Nurturing Center, which is busy with preparations... (full context)

The man appears next to Claire, and they look out a window. Two boys ride past on... (full context)

...takes her toward the central plaza and the Nurturing Center, where she runs into the man riding home on his bike. Thirty-six is asleep in a basket on the back of... (full context)

...to visit the Nurturing Center, but the receptionist turns her away. When she sees the man on his bike in the Central Plaza, a little seat now on the back of... (full context)

Claire asks if they’re using Thirty-six’s name in public yet. The man says that while his family is secretly (and against the rules) using it at home,... (full context)

Claire begins running into the man and Abe regularly in the mornings and evenings. Now, Abe waves goodbye and mimics her... (full context)

...Abe was born, and on this day, Claire teaches him to say her name. The man is impressed and says Abe is bright—but he still won’t sleep, and he’s not sure... (full context)

...and see where Abe is going. But when she arrives, something is clearly wrong. The man seems angry, and when Claire approaches Abe, another woman snatches him away and asks Claire... (full context)

Claire follows the man and Abe to their bikes, where the man shares that Abe isn’t going to be... (full context)