Rainy: Character Analysis in I Cheerfully Refuse

Overview

Rainy (born Rainier), the protagonist of I Cheerfully Refuse, is a bassist, sailor, and reluctant hero. After the murder of his wife Lark, he flees his home on a sentient Lake Superior, seeking both escape and the possibility that Lark might somehow be waiting at the Slate Islands. His journey transforms him from a grief-stricken man into a protector of the girl Sol and a quiet resistor of oppression. Rainy embodies the novel’s central tension between despair and defiant hope, channeling his losses into music and stubborn compassion.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Rainy’s primary motivation is love—for Lark, for his friends, and later for Sol. This love drives him to act even when he feels powerless. He demonstrates profound empathy, as when he plays bass for his dying friend Labrino in Chapter 9, honoring Labrino’s request for a song even as the man succumbs to the drug Willow. His commitment to “first do no harm,” taught by his mentor Diego, shapes his nonviolent approach even toward his enemies. Yet he is capable of fierce action: he growls at feral children to protect the mute boy Tonio (Chapter 7), and later throws Tom Skint overboard to save himself and others (Chapter 36). Rainy is also marked by a deep vulnerability—he stops playing music after Lark’s death, sleeps in the Cedars, and briefly uses Kellan’s silver canister. He does not romanticize his own heroism but acknowledges his failures: “I’d protected exactly no one” (Chapter 21). His growth lies in learning to accept protection as an imperfect promise and rediscovering purpose through caring for Sol.

Chronological Arc

Rainy’s arc follows the classic stages of grief and resistance. He begins in a secure, love-filled life with Lark in a lakeside town. After Lark’s murder by Werryck’s enforcer Tom Skint, Rainy is paralyzed by sorrow and suspicion (Chapter 12). He rediscovers his boat Flower, restores it, and sails into Lake Superior, rejecting Werryck’s offer to trade Kellan for amnesty (Chapter 18). On the lake, he encounters danger—a shooter on the shore, a storm, and the risen drowned. He docks at Lightner, reunites with grown-up Tonio (now Officer Apeknuckle), who warns him to flee (Chapter 16). He then meets Sol, a fierce young girl he frees from the exploitative King Richard by trading his beloved bass guitar (Chapter 21). Together they travel through the canal system, facing the brutality of the bridge regime. After joining forces with Sol’s supposed grandfather Griff (who proves inept), they are captured by Werryck’s ship Posterity. Rainy is imprisoned, forced to play bass for Werryck, and witnesses the capture of the twelve escapees including Kellan. He orchestrates a revolt, kills Skint, and escapes with Sol (Chapter 36). The novel ends with Rainy and Sol settling in Jolie, where he begins to heal, and he sails out to view the Tashi Comet, deciding he might dance again (Chapter 38).

Key Relationships

• Lark: His murdered wife, a bookseller. Her death is the catalyst for the entire journey. Rainy’s memories of her reading Molly Thorn and her phrase “probably doomed and perplexingly merry” sustain him. Their relationship is portrayed as deeply loving and reciprocal.
• Sol: A nine-year-old girl he rescues from King Richard. Sol becomes his surrogate daughter; he trades his bass for her freedom, cares for her when she is ill, and eventually protects her from Werryck’s compliance therapy. Sol’s fierce independence and vulnerability mirror his own.
• Labrino: A tavern owner and friend. Rainy plays for Labrino as he dies, witnessing the power of music to ease the passage of grief. Labrino’s loss deepens Rainy’s sorrow but also cements his commitment to art as healing.
• Werryck: The antagonist, a wealthy and powerful man who has not slept in 42 years. Werryck forces Rainy to play bass and controls him through threats to Sol. Their relationship is a power struggle: Rainy negotiates small concessions (like painting work) while refusing to capitulate entirely.
• Kellan: A squelette factory laborer who stays with Rainy and Lark. He steals the drug Willow and later is recaptured. Rainy feels guilt for failing to protect him. Their final encounter on the ship is marked by shared acknowledgment of loss.

Key Decisions and Consequences

1. Choosing to play for Labrino as he dies (Chapter 9): Rainy sets aside his own reluctance to honor Labrino’s final wish. This decision affirms the healing power of music and deepens Rainy’s understanding of loyalty.
2. Fleeing on the boat instead of confronting Werryck (Chapter 13): Rainy’s escape preserves his life and enables his later role as Sol’s protector. It also sets him on the open water where he must rely on his own resources.
3. Trading his bass guitar for Sol’s freedom (Chapter 21): This act of sacrifice severs him from his identity as a musician but establishes his commitment to another’s wellbeing. He immediately misses the instrument, yet the trade proves essential to the plot.
4. Refusing Werryck’s offer to help capture Kellan (Chapter 18): Rainy throws the phone into the lake, rejecting collaboration with the man who caused Lark’s death. This stubborn integrity preserves his moral compass but prolongs danger.
5. Killing Tom Skint (Chapter 36): In a moment of crisis, Rainy throws Skint overboard to save Sol and others. This is his first act of lethal violence; afterward, he does not glorify it. The death enables the escape from Posterity but also marks Rainy’s irreversible departure from his former peaceable self.

Themes and Symbolism

Rainy’s arc embodies several major themes in the novel, which you can explore in depth on our themes page. The most prominent is music as survival: Rainy’s bass playing soothes Labrino, calms Werryck, and helps the twelve escapees endure. His decision to keep playing after Lark’s death is an act of resistance against despair (see Music as Survival). Grief and memory shape every move he makes; Lark’s ghost haunts the narrative, and Rainy’s memories of her provide both pain and direction (Grief and Memory). Resistance to oppression is concrete in his rebellion against Werryck’s regime and the bridge toll system (Resistance to Oppression). Hope in darkness is sustained by small acts: a kite, a pelican saving the twelve, the Tashi Comet (Hope in Darkness). Finally, the power of stories and literacy is embodied in Lark’s treasured copy of I Cheerfully Refuse, which Rainy carries and reads to Sol, insisting that “words are tracks people leave in the world” (The Power of Stories and Literacy). The boat Flower symbolizes refuge and transformation; the bass guitar represents Rainy’s soul. For a full understanding of the novel’s ending, see our ending explained.

Five Questions and Answers

1. Why does Rainy refuse Werryck’s offer to help find Kellan?
Rainy refuses because he recognizes Werryck as complicit in Lark’s death and as the force behind the oppression of the squelettes. He cannot collaborate with the man who destroyed his life, even if it means safety. This refusal is a moral stance: he chooses integrity over expedience.

2. What is the significance of the bass guitar Rainy trades for Sol?
The bass represents Rainy’s identity, his connection to Lark (they played together), and his primary means of emotional expression. By trading it, he symbolically surrenders his old self to secure freedom for another. He later feels its absence acutely, but the trade demonstrates that love for Sol outweighs his attachment to his art.

3. How does Rainy’s relationship with Sol evolve over the course of the novel?
Initially, Sol is a burden Rainy reluctantly takes on after freeing her from King Richard. She becomes his navigator and equal partner in survival. By the end, he treats her as a daughter, protecting her from Werryck’s compliance therapy and risking his life to escape with her. She, in turn, teaches him stubborn hope.

4. What role does Molly Thorn’s book I Cheerfully Refuse play in Rainy’s journey?
Lark read the book on the night she died, making it a sacred relic. Rainy carries it, reads from it to Sol, and uses it to anchor his belief that beauty and resistance are possible. The book’s title becomes his motto—a cheerful refusal to accept the world as others define it.

5. Does Rainy find emotional closure by the novel’s end?
Closure remains partial. He still mourns Lark and acknowledges his failures, but he begins to heal through caring for Sol, playing music again, and moving into a garage loft in Jolie. The Tashi Comet appears, and he considers dancing. The ending suggests an open, tentative recovery rather than a tidy resolution.

For further discussion, visit our Questions and Answers page.