Alfred Lambert is the father of the Lambert family. While he is kept mysterious as a character, his aging and illness are at the center of the novel. His family must decide how to handle his Parkinson’s symptoms, and they argue with one another over how to do so. Some family members, such as Enid, minimize his symptoms, while other family members, such as Gary, are intent on getting him into a more manageable setting. But no one in Alfred’s family quite faces the reality of his dying or is able to fully see him.

Alfred is a product of the Depression era and the American Midwest, and he symbolizes certain values that are no longer in fashion at the turn of the millennium. He is thrifty, is loyal to his former coworkers, and has a former engineer’s respect for intelligent design and concrete objects. He is also unemotive, casually racist and sexist, and often cold to his family. His children are intimidated by his undeniable force and intelligence while also finding him embarrassing and out of touch, highlighting the tension of Midwestern Versus East Coast Values.

Alfred does not undergo a character arc throughout the novel; rather, we gradually discover his interior life.