The first chapter in this book is called Quoyle, the name of the main character of the
novel. The word is also explained as in an encyclopedia in the beginning of the chapter, or actually before the chapter starts. «Quoyle: a coil of rope.»

What connotations do we have for a rope? A rope is something handy, something we use to hold things together, or something we as a tool when we climb mountains. We use a rope when we want to hold something up or to secure something.  A rope is something we trust is strong and won’t  pull when we use it.

Further on Proulx says; «A Flemish is a spiral coil of one layer only. It is made on
deck, so that it may be walked on if necessary.» In this context the rope is made
something we can walk all over when we don’t need it. Something that’s not in our way when we don’t need it, something we can take out when we need and hide away when we have no use for it.  We can also use a rope to have fun with, use it as a skipping rope.

When we look at the description of the main character Quoyle and the description of his life, we can make connections with the description of a Flemish. Quoyle is a person that everybody walks all over. His father was always pointing out Quoyle’s failures, his brother was always calling him names, his boss firing him and hiring him. The character Quoyle is like a Flemish. He lets the people around him take advantage of him, and lets the environment use him whenever they  need him.

In the first chapter when we meet Quoyle, he is a man with low self esteem. He doesn’t know his own positive sides, he thinks he’s just somebody everyone can use. Quoyle’s self image is very low in the first chapter. He has only two friends, and they move away. Even his friends aren’t really close to him, because Quoyle doesn’t let them get that close, mostly because of his own insecurity in himself. Who would think that he actually had something good to give other people? Not Qouyle himself.

In a way Quoyle doesn’t live his life, he just exists. When he meets his first wife, he isn’t man enough to stand up for himself. But she gives him two children, who need him and love him. Finally Quoyle experiences being needed and having someone who is dependent on him. Quoyle can give his daughters something, and they don’t walk over him or make fun of him. For his children, Quoyle is the positive sides of the rope I mentioned earlier, trustworthy, safe, useful. Nobody has ever needed Qouyle before his children come along. I think the children are the underlying reason for the change in Quoyle.

In the beginning I mentioned that a rope is strong and thick and useful. These sides of
Quoyle are hidden in the beginning of the novel. The transformation of Quoyle’s
personality thoughout the novel, is already given in the beginning of chapter one. Just
think of the qualities of a rope. Quoyle is just like that, even though he changes through the novel. You can walk on a rope as people can with Qouyle in the beginning of the novel. In the end Qouyle doesn’t let people walk all over him. He has become a more confident man. He has more of the strength of a rope.  And he feels more useful than before, just like the rope.

Proulx uses the image of the rope to describe Quoyle throughout the novel. She puts the image of the rope in our minds at the very start, and touches on our
connotations with a rope. We know the other qualities of a rope, and therefore also the other sides of Quoyle. That means we know what kind of person he can be if he changes, but we don’t know if Proulx will allow her character to change. What drives the novel forward, is Quoyle having the children. They force him to
show his other qualities and to take responsibility.