Miles is the novel’s protagonist and a round and dynamic character whose intellectual and existential stagnation drives the novel’s core conflict. A perpetual graduate student, he has spent 14 years on a dissertation that has drifted through numerous topics without resolution, a state of limbo that has left him feeling like a “consequence” of his academically successful wife, Kate, rather than an equal partner. This professional aimlessness drives his character arc, which embodies the theme of Searching for Meaning in the Modern World. Miles is kind, imaginative, and deeply knowledgeable about folklore, but he struggles to translate his intellectual passions into tangible achievements. Instead, he repeatedly seeks purpose in more immediate and gratifying pursuits, substituting the difficult work of writing for the immersive experiences of physical labor, like scything with his friend Andrei, or the mastery of a new skill, such as cross-country skiing. 

Miles’s most defining role is that of a storyteller, a function through which he connects with his children and processes the world around him. He invents elaborate bedtime stories, such as the shifting saga of the Humbaba or the adventures of the dog Whiskers in the underworld, which reflect his own imaginative escapism and highlight the novel’s focus on