Darcus is Clara’s father, an “odiferous, moribund, salivating old man” who, before his death, rarely moved from his position in a bug-infested armchair in a corner of the Bowdens’ home. He came over from Jamaica 14 years before his wife, Hortense, and daughter, ostensibly to earn enough money for them to join him, but he became afflicted by “the most incredible lethargy,” creating “a lifelong affection for the dole [welfare], the armchair, and British television.”