Characters Beyond That, the Sea Laura Spence-Ash

Reginald Thompson Character Analysis: Guilt, Grief, and the Weight of a Father’s Choice

Overview

Reginald Thompson is Beatrix’s father and a key figure in the emotional landscape of Laura Spence-Ash’s Beyond That, the Sea. While his direct presence in the story is limited to a few chapters—most narrated from his perspective—his decision to send his eleven-year-old daughter to America during World War II reverberates through the entire novel. Reginald is defined by a single, agonizing choice made in love and fear, and by the guilt and unresolved grief that follow. He never fully recovers from the separation, and his sudden death from a heart attack while Beatrix is still abroad leaves a wound that his wife and daughter carry for decades. This analysis examines Reginald through his actions, motivations, relationships, and thematic significance.

Plot Role

Reginald’s primary plot function is to set the novel’s central crisis in motion. Although his wife Millie becomes the public face of the decision—and Beatrix blames her—the narrative reveals in chapter 3 that Reginald “forced Millie’s hand.” He is the one who insists Beatrix must leave London for America, believing the bombs are too close. He never tells Beatrix the truth, letting her think it was Millie’s idea. This secret becomes a source of private torment.

After Beatrix’s departure, Reginald appears in chapters 17, 22, 26, and 33, each showing his emotional deterioration. He joins the Home Guard partly to avoid the empty flat. He writes unsent letters to Beatrix, burns them, and begins a secret postal chess correspondence with Ethan Gregory. His death—unwitnessed by the reader but mentioned in chapter 68 when William learns that Millie says “Just like Reg” after William’s own father dies of a heart attack—removes any chance of reconciliation. In the final chapters, Beatrix senses her father’s presence as a ghostly comfort in the Maine house, but the narrative never gives Reginald a direct reunion with his daughter.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Protective love: Reginald’s core motivation is keeping Beatrix safe. He tells himself, “Better that she go to America, where the fingers of war were less likely to touch her.” He draws on his older brother’s experience in WWI, which “cast a long shadow” and taught him “the edges of fear.” His recurring dream of walking into the ocean—trying to lift the ship and turn it around—reveals a desire to undo the separation even as he insists it was necessary.

Avoidance and guilt: Reginald avoids the pain of the empty home by staying late at work, volunteering for Home Guard patrols, and drinking at the pub. He writes emotional letters at night but burns them by morning, ashamed of what he calls “a weak version of himself.” He never mails those letters. His secret correspondence with Ethan Gregory is an attempt to feel close to Beatrix without confronting Millie’s grief. The chess games become a lifeline.

Pride and public image: In chapter 3, Reginald tells “the fellows in the local pub” a sanitized version of Beatrix’s departure, boasting of her bravery. But the real farewell was tearful and angry: Beatrix blamed Millie, refused to say goodbye to her, and clung to Reginald. He fabricates words and omits the pain. This split between public pride and private sorrow defines him.

Inability to share emotional weight: Reginald withholds his correspondence with Ethan from Millie, even when Nancy Gregory inadvertently mentions it. He wants to “keep it all for himself.” This secrecy compounds Millie’s isolation and resentment.

Chronological Arc

  1. Before departure (implied): Reginald is a loving, engaged father who reads Beatrix stories and teaches her to make paper boats. He is not conscripted due to age and his brother’s war trauma.

  2. The decision (chapter 3): As bombs fall closer, Reginald insists Beatrix must go to America. He forces Millie to agree, then lets Beatrix believe it was Millie’s choice. The farewell at the Grosvenor Hotel is tearful; he turns away before he is ready.

  3. Early separation (chapters 3, 17): He boasts at the pub but privately dreads the loss. During the Christmas phone call in chapter 17, he notices Beatrix’s changed accent and new name (“Bea”) and feels a “lodged” worry.

  4. Home Guard and avoidance (chapter 22): He joins the Home Guard partly to escape Millie’s grief and anger. He stays overnight at the factory even when not on duty. He writes and burns letters.

  5. Secret correspondence (chapter 26): He writes to Ethan Gregory, begins postal chess, and lies to Millie about it. The letters give him joy and a sense of connection.

  6. Imagining reunion (chapter 33): With Millie, he paints a detailed fantasy of visiting Beatrix in America. They laugh and cry together, a rare moment of intimacy. Millie describes Beatrix as happy, tanned, freckled—a vision Reginald believes is true.

  7. Death (between chapters 33 and 68): Reginald dies of a heart attack. The exact timing is not specified, but it occurs while Beatrix is still in England after returning from America. In chapter 68, Millie tells William that Reg died “just like” William’s father—heart attack. Beatrix later feels his presence in Maine, implying he is a lingering spirit.

  8. Posthumous presence (chapters 114–116): Beatrix reflects on having had four parents and senses her father in the Maine house. The novel ends with her feeling his presence as part of a blended past.

Relationships

With Beatrix: Reginald loves her deeply but his choice creates an emotional chasm. He never tells her the truth about who insisted she leave. Their last interaction is at the Grosvenor Hotel, and he never sees her again. Beatrix’s grief is unresolved; she carries a wish from the final summer to stay in America forever. After his death, she experiences him as a gentle ghost.

With Millie: Their marriage fractures under the strain. Millie becomes angry and withdrawn, drinking heavily. Reginald avoids her, staying at the factory, and keeps secrets (the chess, the letters to Ethan). They have brief moments of tenderness, as in chapter 33 when they imagine visiting Beatrix together, but these are rare. Millie’s resentment is evident when she tells William, “Just like Reg.”

With Ethan Gregory: A surrogate friendship developed through postal chess. Reginald never meets him in person, but the correspondence allows him to share his worries and imagine his daughter’s life. Ethan reassures him about Beatrix’s safety and well-being.

Key Decisions and Consequences

  1. Forcing Beatrix’s evacuation: This decision saves Beatrix from the physical dangers of war but creates emotional distance that never closes. It also causes the marital rift and Reginald’s lifelong guilt.

  2. Letting Millie take the blame: By not telling Beatrix that he insisted, Reginald preserves his daughter’s positive image of him but sacrifices Millie’s relationship with Beatrix. This choice haunts both women.

  3. Joining the Home Guard and avoiding home: This decision provides him with purpose but isolates him from Millie. It reflects his inability to face shared grief.

  4. Writing to Ethan secretly: This gives him a private outlet but deepens the dishonesty in his marriage. It also builds a bridge to the Gregory family that later helps Beatrix feel connected.

  5. Burning his letters to Beatrix: This symbolic act destroys any chance of Beatrix reading his true emotions. It underscores his shame and the impossibility of vulnerability.

Theme/Symbol Connections

Belonging and displacement: Reginald is the character who initiates Beatrix’s displacement, yet he himself becomes displaced in his own home. He cannot belong in the empty flat, and he never visits America. His death ensures he remains a disembodied presence—part of Beatrix’s past but not her present.

Memory and grief: Reginald’s grief is expressed through his recurring dream of walking into the ocean, a symbol of his desire to reverse time. He is trapped in the memory of the Grosvenor Hotel departure. His death makes his grief permanent; Beatrix must process it without closure.

Found family and surrogate parents: Reginald’s letters to Ethan allow Ethan to become a surrogate parent figure. By proxy, Reginald entrusts his daughter to the Gregorys. The postal chess is a symbol of this transfer of care.

War’s impact on children: Reginald’s decision, while protective, demonstrates how war forces parents into impossible choices. His trauma from WWI (his brother’s experience) shapes his response to WWII. He acts out of fear, and his daughter becomes a wartime statistic.

Love, loss, and second chances: Reginald and Millie’s marriage does not survive the separation with its intimacy intact. He never gets a second chance to be a daily father to Beatrix. The novel suggests that love can persist beyond death, but the chance to repair the relationship is lost.

5 Book-Specific Questions and Answers

  1. Why does Reginald let Beatrix believe that Millie insisted on sending her to America?
    In chapter 3, the narrator states that Reginald “forced Millie’s hand” but “never told her that he’d forced Millie’s hand. He let her believe it was Millie’s choice.” He likely wants to preserve a loving image of himself as the one who would keep her, while knowing the decision was necessary. He may also fear Beatrix’s anger.

  2. What is the meaning of Reginald’s recurring dream of walking into the ocean?
    The dream appears in chapter 3 after Beatrix leaves. He walks into the ocean fully dressed, “pushing the waves aside,” and finds himself back in the ballroom at the Grosvenor. He then “holds out his hands, reaching, wishing he could pick up the ship she’s now on and turn it around.” The ocean represents the Atlantic separating them, and the dream expresses his deep guilt and desire to undo the separation.

  3. Why does Reginald burn the letters he writes to Beatrix?
    In chapter 26, Reginald writes emotional letters late at night but burns them in the morning because he sees “a weak version of himself portrayed on the pages.” He does not want Beatrix to know that man exists. This shows his shame and his need to project strength even though he is crumbling inside.

  4. How does Reginald’s relationship with Ethan Gregory develop, and why does he keep it secret?
    Reginald initiates correspondence in chapter 26 because he is worried about Beatrix and wants reassurance. Ethan is a serious man who plays chess with him through the mail. The letters provide Reginald with joy and a sense of closeness to Beatrix. He never tells Millie because he wants “to keep it all for himself”—it is a private escape from her grief and anger.

  5. Does Beatrix ever fully reconcile with her father’s memory?
    The novel implies a kind of posthumous reconciliation. In the final chapters, Beatrix feels her father’s presence in the Maine house. She reflects on having had four parents and says she carries a piece of each of them. However, she never had a living conversation with him about his decision. Her grief is unresolved, but she integrates his love into her sense of home. The epigraphs and ending suggest that love persists in memory, even if practical reconciliation was impossible.

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