A Monster Calls

by

Patrick Ness

Conor’s Father Character Analysis

Conor’s father and the ex-husband of Conor’s mother. Conor’s mother and father divorced when Conor was seven years old, and Conor explains that he barely remembers what it’s like to have a father in the house. Conor’s father now lives in America with his new wife, Stephanie, and a new baby. Conor’s father comes to visit when Conor’s mother ends up in the hospital. Conor is happy to see him—he enjoys being with his father and is comforted to have a parental figure to help take care of him and relieve him of some of his responsibility. However, even though it is clear that Conor’s father has good intentions, he is rather flaky. When Conor asks if he could live with his father in America instead of living with his grandmother, Conor’s father quickly makes excuses as to why Conor can’t live with him. Instead of trying to make his son’s life easier, he repeats several times that Conor will have to “be brave” in the coming weeks. Thus, in contrast to Conor’s grandmother, who insists on treating him like a child, Conor’s father’s lack of taking responsibility forces Conor to be even more of an adult.

Conor’s Father Quotes in A Monster Calls

The A Monster Calls quotes below are all either spoken by Conor’s Father or refer to Conor’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Death, Denial, and Acceptance Theme Icon
).
A Monster Calls Quotes

He’d told no one about the nightmare. Not his mum, obviously, but no one else either, not his dad in their fortnightly (or so) phone call, definitely not his grandma, and no one at school. Absolutely not.

Related Characters: Conor O’Malley, The Monster, Conor’s Mother, Conor’s Grandmother, Conor’s Father
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:
Champ Quotes

“We barely have room for the three of us, Con. Your grandma has a lot more money and space than we do. Plus, you’re in school here, your friends are here, your whole life is here. It would be unfair to just take you out of all that.”

“Unfair to who?” Conor asked.

His father sighed. “This is what I meant,” he said. “This is what I meant when I said you were going to have to be brave.”

Related Characters: Conor O’Malley (speaker), Conor’s Father (speaker), Conor’s Mother, Conor’s Grandmother
Page Number: 88
Explanation and Analysis:
Invisible Quotes

His classmates kept their distance from him, too, like he was giving off a bad smell. He tried to remember if he’d talked to any of them since he’d arrived this morning. He didn’t think he had. Which meant he hadn’t actually spoken to anyone since his father that morning.

How could something like that happen?

But, finally, here was Harry. And that, at least, felt normal.

Related Characters: Conor O’Malley, Conor’s Mother, Conor’s Grandmother, Conor’s Father, Harry, Anton, Sully
Page Number: 125
Explanation and Analysis:
Could It Be? Quotes

“Son,” his father said, leaning forward. “Stories don’t always have happy endings.”

This stopped him. Because they didn’t, did they? That’s one thing the monster had definitely taught him. Stories were wild, wild animals and went off in directions you couldn’t expect.

Related Characters: Conor’s Father (speaker), Conor O’Malley, The Monster, Conor’s Mother
Related Symbols: The Yew Tree
Page Number: 134
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire A Monster Calls LitChart as a printable PDF.
A Monster Calls PDF

Conor’s Father Quotes in A Monster Calls

The A Monster Calls quotes below are all either spoken by Conor’s Father or refer to Conor’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Death, Denial, and Acceptance Theme Icon
).
A Monster Calls Quotes

He’d told no one about the nightmare. Not his mum, obviously, but no one else either, not his dad in their fortnightly (or so) phone call, definitely not his grandma, and no one at school. Absolutely not.

Related Characters: Conor O’Malley, The Monster, Conor’s Mother, Conor’s Grandmother, Conor’s Father
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:
Champ Quotes

“We barely have room for the three of us, Con. Your grandma has a lot more money and space than we do. Plus, you’re in school here, your friends are here, your whole life is here. It would be unfair to just take you out of all that.”

“Unfair to who?” Conor asked.

His father sighed. “This is what I meant,” he said. “This is what I meant when I said you were going to have to be brave.”

Related Characters: Conor O’Malley (speaker), Conor’s Father (speaker), Conor’s Mother, Conor’s Grandmother
Page Number: 88
Explanation and Analysis:
Invisible Quotes

His classmates kept their distance from him, too, like he was giving off a bad smell. He tried to remember if he’d talked to any of them since he’d arrived this morning. He didn’t think he had. Which meant he hadn’t actually spoken to anyone since his father that morning.

How could something like that happen?

But, finally, here was Harry. And that, at least, felt normal.

Related Characters: Conor O’Malley, Conor’s Mother, Conor’s Grandmother, Conor’s Father, Harry, Anton, Sully
Page Number: 125
Explanation and Analysis:
Could It Be? Quotes

“Son,” his father said, leaning forward. “Stories don’t always have happy endings.”

This stopped him. Because they didn’t, did they? That’s one thing the monster had definitely taught him. Stories were wild, wild animals and went off in directions you couldn’t expect.

Related Characters: Conor’s Father (speaker), Conor O’Malley, The Monster, Conor’s Mother
Related Symbols: The Yew Tree
Page Number: 134
Explanation and Analysis: