Abusive Ape

“He took hold of the ball and, showing her his bunched fist, punched it high in the air. The girl nodded and smiled. She refused her turn, but the ape persisted and she obliged by knocking the ball a few feet into the air. The ape applauded as he ran after the ball.”
Abusive Ape

As Colin and Mary lounge on the beach observing a large group of children, McEwan introduces two extremely minor characters as Colin watches the interactions between a young boy and girl. McEwan paints this scene in an obscured innocent light, but it can easily be compared to the brutal sadomasochism we encounter later with Robert and Caroline. It is through Colin’s eyes that the young boy is interpreted as an ape. He parades around, idiotically “flirting” with the young girl, but takes things too far by physically touching her in a sexual manner. It started as “a friendly punch on the shoulder” and evolved into slap on the bottom. He claims his territory with these abuses, and proceeds to take control of her. Insisting that she hit the ball like he showed her, the ape boy’s persistence parallels that of Robert’s dominance over Caroline.

The scene unfolds as if it were just another typical observation by Colin, and he carries on with his afternoon under the sun as if he had just witnessed nothing out of the ordinary. His non-responsive and even apathetic take of the ape boy’s offensive behavior ultimately results in his death. If he had noticed such an intrusion of personal space by another human being, he could have quite possibly been aware of the impending encounter with Robert and Caroline. His blindness to the maltreatment of one human being to another causes him to fall victim to sadomasochism. Although he may not realize it, Colin’s demise stems from this same psychological illness that he observed on the beach earlier in his vacation.