Redhead by the Side of the Road

Chapters 1 and 2 set the stage for the rest of the novel by introducing Micah, Cass, and Brink. The chapters also provide insight into Micah’s thought patterns and way of living to highlight both set character patterns and those that will change in time through character development.

Chapter 1 provides a glimpse into Micah’s timely and systemic life. He is characterized by the things he prioritizes, the way he organizes his life, and the way his thoughts are narrated. Micah mostly keeps to himself and strives to maintain his daily routine. He wakes at the same time every day to go for a run and eat breakfast before beginning to take house calls for his job. He has a schedule for his housework, but he makes efforts to maintain different rooms throughout the week. Micah keeps his apartment building orderly too, doing miscellaneous yard work and fixing tenants’ house issues when they arise. Micah feels that everyone should be as orderly as him, thinking “Some people; they just didn’t have a clue” (24), when he spots his neighbors recycling put out on garbage day. 

Micah’s imaginary character, the Traffic God, illustrates his attitude about life in general. Micah imagines the Traffic God watches him everywhere he drives, praising Micah for meticulously obeying the speed limit, slowing to effortless stops, and using his blinker even when no other cars are around. Micah’s creation of this character shows that Micah’s strict maintenance of his apartment and complex as well as his adherence to traffic laws comes from a place of striving to do the right thing. It can be inferred that Micah feels he deserves praise for the way he drives, thus he has created a character for the meticulous adherence to traffic laws to feel meaningful. The rest of the narrative will revolve around Micah coming to terms with his perception of rightness and whether his life path is misguided.

The narrative contrasts Micah’s minimalist, system-driven lifestyle with the presence of Cass. Micah likes Cass because she’s “basically a no-nonsense woman” (10), but there are things about Cass that Micah doesn’t understand, like her attachment to her cat, Whiskers, and her choice of such a “cutesy” name for the cat. When Cass confides about her concerns with being evicted, Micah uses logic to reason with her, talking her down from her worries. Their differences become clearer when the setting moves to Cass’s apartment. While Micah prefers silence, Cass always has the radio or television on. All of Cass’s linens match and her tables and shelves are filled with houseplants and knick-knacks. While Micah leans toward a more practical and minimalist lifestyle, he concedes that Cass’s place looks much more “grown-up” than his own. The dynamic between Micah and Cass shows how Micah keeps people at arm’s length. They only see one another on certain days of the week, and they’ve maintained very separate lives and households despite being in a relationship for three years. 

Micah details his views on relationships in Chapter 2 when he reminisces about his past girlfriends. Micah believes that with the end of each relationship, “you find you have less to give to the next” (38) and admits that he “had not had a very good history with women” (38), observing that “they kept losing interest in him” (38). The distance mentioned earlier between Cass and Micah will later help Micah critique these relationships when he finally begins questioning his role in them.

Micah’s romantic relationships aren’t his only failed relationships. In Chapter 1, Micah recalls his time in college and the man he began a software company with, Deuce Baldwin. Micah struggled to get along with Deuce, who was a rich guy. Micah believes rich guys are “all the same. Forever throwing their weight around, acting so entitled” (14). This prejudice reappears when Micah meets Brink, and it’s a hurdle he’ll need to not only revisit but effectively debunk when building a rapport with Brink. 

Brink’s appearance, as foreshadowed by Micah’s prophetic dream, disrupts Micah’s routine and stirs Micah’s feelings toward rich kids. Micah describes him as “Handsome, in that polished and privileged sort of way” (27). Brink is reserved about his intentions and the circumstances that brought him to Micah’s door. Micah figures Brink is “going through a crisis of some kind” (37) and opens his home to the teen despite feeling confused about Brink’s motivations. In turn, Micah also keeps information from Brink, like the fact that Micah and Lorna never had sex. Brink believes Micah could be his father, and Micah, cautious of Brink’s mysterious circumstances, does not go to great lengths to deny this, nor does he confirm it. At this point, Micah still holds fast to his default mode that includes distance and the comfort of routine.

At the end of Chapter 2, the focus returns briefly to Micah and Cass’s relationship. While Micah was concerned that Cass was less affectionate than usual in Chapter 1, these concerns grow when Cass devotes more attention to Brink than to Micah at their dinner. As Cass leaves, she reminds Micah about her landlord situation; Micah makes a joke, misreading the situation. This exchange between the couple hints at the turmoil to come in their relationship. 

Finally, the theme of misconceptions arises in Chapter 2, when Micah mistakes the fire hydrant for a small redheaded boy on the side of the road. Though he knows it’s a fire hydrant, he makes this mistake every day on his run. This theme expands with Brink’s belief that Micah is his biological father, despite Micah knowing he’s never had sex with Lorna. Given the novel’s title, the theme of misconceptions is an important one and will be central to the narrative going forward.