Cleo Dobelle

Before getting ready to venture to Europe, Tom stops over at a friend, Cleo’s, house. He tells her (and only her) about his recently planned trip. It is interesting to me why Tom only wants to tell Cleo. The reader is not informed of the relationship between these two characters or how they had met. He mentions that he didn’t know how old she was. He thinks she could be anywhere from twenty three to thirty. This shows that Tom is either not very close to Cleo or that he is not one to get very close to anybody. When Cleo is excited about his trip, Tom is relieved he has some reassurance that he is doing the right thing. Cleo asks if she will ever see him again. He says yes, but do we really believe everything that Tom says? It will be interesting to see how Cleo pops back up again in the novel, since she has made such an impact in Tom’s life.