Character Analysis: Dave LaJoy

Dave LaJoy is possibly the most complex, intriguing character in When the Killing’s Done. His entire life, from his name to his actions, is completely contradictory. LaJoy, in spite of his surname, is a man who lives a rather joyless life. He is a rude, intimidating man who owns a chain of electronic stores, a BMW, a large house in Montecito, and a yacht.

Despite his activism on the part of animals, LaJoy holds very little regard for human life and is extremely self-centered. When he attacks Alma at her press conference about the eradication of rats from Anacapa, he ignores the impact on the rats on the native and endangered species on the island. After the incident, LaJoy is most disturbed at the fact that an article written about the incident does not mention him or the FPA by name.

However, LaJoy, like his lover Anise, has some redeeming qualities. He, in a rather stereotypical fashion, converts to animal rights fanaticism because he, when reading a pamphlet about slaughterhouses, recognizes in all too vivid detail the horrific violence that ended in his hamburger. Prior to this conversion, he engaged in a short relationship with Alma, which led to his rejection of all things, scientific or otherwise, that lead to the killing of animals.

In many ways, Alma and Dave are similar. They are both passionate about the environment in their own minds, extreme in their tactics, and flawed in their logic. They embody in their inherent hypocrisy the folk music-loving, Prius-driving, super-elite pseudo-activists rampant in modern society. Both have deluded themselves into believing that they are fighting to protect the helpless instead of furthering their own interests and garnering attention for themselves. In many ways, it is impossible to understand Dave without understanding Alma because they are foils of each other.

Yet Alma has many advantages over Dave, including the support of her Park Service boyfriend, Tim Sickafoose and the protection of the government, law, and academia. Dave, a romantic ruled by his fiery temper, is forced by the nature of his work to rely on flimsy donations, personal wealth, and morally ambiguous campaigns to see his work done.

In many ways, Dave LaJoy is the modern embodiment of the tyrant of 19^th century Gothic romantic novels. He is a slave to his rage, manipulates a beleaguered woman (in this case, Anise) to his advantage, and toys with the laws of nature and society. Dave LaJoy is an archetype, he remains static throughout the entire novel, and, though he speaks the words of the title during his protest, he is not the protagonist. However, it is difficult to call him the antagonist for his enemy is as unlikeable as he is.

Perhaps the purpose of LaJoy is to depict the failure of American idealism, to show how a man with nothing to lose takes up a cause of which he knows precious little. Perhaps LaJoy is simply a man who does not understand or acknowledge his place in the world just like the rats and native species. LaJoy does pose vital questions to the debate of who holds the power of deciding who lives and who dies, for to him it is not the scientists and chemical companies, but the average, spiritual man.