Duncan MacTavish Character Analysis

Overview of Duncan MacTavish in Once There Were Wolves

Duncan MacTavish is the Chief Superintendent of police in the small Scottish town where Inti Flynn arrives to lead the wolf reintroduction project. He is a man shaped by a violent childhood, a career dedicated to order, and a private struggle to contain the rage he inherited from his father. Over the course of the novel, Duncan becomes Inti's lover, a prime suspect in the disappearance of Stuart Burns, and ultimately a protector who chooses to conceal the truth to safeguard the people he loves. His character is a study in the tension between the capacity for violence and the deliberate choice of kindness, a theme that resonates throughout the book.

Plot Role

Duncan serves multiple narrative functions. He is the official face of the investigation into Stuart's disappearance, which places him in direct opposition to Inti's need to protect the wolves. He is also Inti's romantic partner, providing a counterpoint to her isolation and a source of both comfort and suspicion. His past—killing his father as a teenager—makes him a plausible suspect in the town's eyes, and his affair with Lainey Burns complicates his moral standing. Yet his ultimate decision to lie about the circumstances of Stuart's death and to shield Aggie and Inti from prosecution reveals a deeper loyalty and a willingness to sacrifice his own reputation for the greater good.

Motivations and Traits

Duncan's actions are driven by a few core motivations:

Desire for peace and kindness: After a violent adolescence, Duncan consciously chose to reject rage. He tells Inti, “I made a choice. Peace, at all costs. Kindness.” This is a direct statement of his intent, though the novel shows that the rage is never fully extinguished.
Protectiveness toward vulnerable people: He intervenes to protect Lainey from Stuart, offers Inti a safe haven, and later shields Aggie from prosecution. His protective instinct is rooted in his own experience of witnessing his mother's abuse.
Fear of repeating his father's pattern: Duncan admits he cannot reconcile himself to being a father because he fears he would be “too much like mine.” This fear shapes his relationships and his reluctance to commit.
Professional integrity: He is described by Fergus as a “bloodhound” who fixates on cases. He questions everyone in town and pursues the truth relentlessly, even when it implicates himself.
Capacity for violence: Despite his chosen peace, Duncan beats Stuart Burns severely, and his past includes killing his father. The novel suggests that this violence is always present, but he works to control it.

Chronological Arc

Duncan's story unfolds in layers, revealed through Inti's investigation and his own confessions.

Past: As a teenager, Duncan killed his father after his father bludgeoned his mother to death. The act was ruled defense of another, but it left him with a reputation that made people wary of him. He describes himself as “ugly inside” during his adolescence, picking fights and needing chaos.
Present: When Inti arrives, Duncan is the police chief, respected but still carrying the weight of his past. He begins an affair with Lainey Burns, Stuart's wife, and later becomes involved with Inti. On the night Stuart disappears, Duncan beats Stuart and takes him to the lockup, then releases him. This incident becomes a key point of suspicion.
Investigation: As the investigation into Stuart's disappearance intensifies, Duncan's alibi for Inti (and hers for him) becomes a point of tension. Inti learns of his past from Fergus and later from Duncan himself. She confronts him in the woods, asking if he killed Stuart; he neither confirms nor denies.
Climax: After Aggie attacks Duncan (stabbing him and setting her dog on him), Duncan survives. He deduces that Aggie killed Stuart and that Inti helped conceal it. Instead of exposing them, he issues a public statement claiming a wolf attacked him, thereby deflecting suspicion from the sisters.
Resolution: Duncan urges Inti to place Aggie in a facility, but Inti refuses. He accepts her decision and remains with her, offering to learn wordless languages if he cannot speak again. The novel ends with the family together, and Duncan's lie about the wolf attack goes unquestioned.

Relationships

With Inti: Their relationship evolves from wary acquaintance to deep intimacy. Duncan is drawn to Inti's fierce independence and her understanding of the wild. He offers her trust, telling her, “Trust has to be offered before it can be met.” Inti, in turn, is both attracted to and suspicious of him, especially after learning of his past and his affair with Lainey.
With Lainey: Duncan had a long-standing affair with Lainey, which he ends before his relationship with Inti deepens. He cares for Lainey and hates Stuart's abuse, but he admits he stopped loving her long ago. His involvement with her complicates his role in the investigation.
With Stuart: Duncan beats Stuart on the night of his disappearance, an act that makes him a prime suspect. He does not kill Stuart, but his violence contributes to the town's suspicion and to Inti's fear of him.
With Aggie: Duncan meets Aggie only briefly, but he recognizes the truth about her involvement in Stuart's death. He chooses to protect her, even though she attacked him. This decision underscores his commitment to Inti and his understanding of trauma.
With his father: Duncan's father is the source of his trauma. The killing of his father is a defining event, and Duncan's fear of becoming like him shapes his choices about family and violence.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Choosing to become a police officer: This decision channels his rage into a structured pursuit of justice. It gives him a purpose but also places him in situations where his past is scrutinized.
Beating Stuart: This act of violence, though not fatal, leads to his being suspected of murder. It also damages his relationship with Inti, who sees his capacity for brutality.
Ending his affair with Lainey: This decision, made before his relationship with Inti, allows him to move forward but leaves Lainey vulnerable and complicates his testimony.
Concealing the truth about Stuart's death: After deducing that Aggie killed Stuart, Duncan chooses to lie, claiming a wolf attacked him. This protects Inti and Aggie but means that the true killer goes free. It also means that the wolves are blamed for a violence they did not commit, a consequence that weighs on Inti.
Offering trust to Inti: Duncan's decision to trust Inti, despite her suspicion of him, is a turning point. It allows their relationship to deepen and ultimately leads to his willingness to protect her.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Duncan's character is deeply tied to several of the novel's central themes.

Embodied empathy and moral responsibility: Duncan's past violence and his conscious choice to be kind reflect the novel's exploration of how individuals respond to trauma. His empathy for Lainey and Inti is a form of moral responsibility, even when it leads him to conceal a crime.
Rewilding and ecological restoration: Duncan's appreciation for the wolves and his willingness to learn from Inti about the land mirror the novel's theme of ecological renewal. His limp and his physical vulnerability contrast with the wildness of the wolves, yet he finds common ground with them.
Domestic violence and intergenerational trauma: Duncan's father's abuse and his own fear of repeating that pattern are central to his character. His decision not to have children is a direct consequence of this trauma.
Twin identity and sacrificial love: Duncan's relationship with Inti and Aggie involves sacrifice. He gives up his reputation and his integrity to protect them, a form of sacrificial love that echoes the bond between the twins.
The ethics of concealment for a greater good: Duncan's lie about the wolf attack raises questions about whether deception can be justified to protect the innocent. The novel leaves this ambiguity unresolved, but Duncan's choice is presented as an act of compassion.

Questions and Answers

1. Why does Duncan beat Stuart Burns?

Duncan beats Stuart after Stuart's confrontation with Inti outside the pub. The novel does not provide a detailed account of the fight, but it is implied that Duncan's anger at Stuart's abuse of Lainey and his general contempt for Stuart's behavior drive him to violence. Duncan later tells Inti that he took Stuart to the lockup for the night, but the beating is an act of uncontrolled rage that he does not fully explain.

2. What is Duncan's role in Stuart's disappearance?

Duncan is not the killer; Aggie is. However, Duncan's beating of Stuart and his subsequent actions make him a prime suspect. He provides Inti with an alibi, and she provides him with one, but the truth is that Duncan was absent from his house that night. He later deduces that Aggie killed Stuart and chooses to protect her by claiming a wolf attacked him.

3. How does Duncan's past influence his actions in the present?

Duncan's past—killing his father to protect his mother—shapes his fear of becoming like his father. This fear leads him to avoid fatherhood and to consciously choose kindness. It also makes him sensitive to abuse and protective of vulnerable women, as seen in his relationship with Lainey and Inti. His past also makes him a suspect in the town's eyes, as people remember his capacity for violence.

4. What does Duncan's decision to protect Inti and Aggie reveal about his character?

Duncan's decision to lie about the wolf attack reveals his deep loyalty to Inti and his understanding of the trauma that drove Aggie to kill Stuart. It shows that he values compassion over legal justice and is willing to sacrifice his own integrity to protect the people he loves. This decision also aligns with his stated commitment to kindness, even when it conflicts with his duty as a police officer.

5. How does Duncan's relationship with Inti evolve throughout the novel?

Duncan and Inti begin as wary acquaintances, then become lovers, then are separated by suspicion and fear. Inti initially trusts him, then suspects him of murder, and finally comes to understand his past and his choices. By the end, they are united as a family, with Duncan accepting Inti's decision to keep Aggie close. Their relationship is marked by mutual trust offered and received, culminating in Duncan's willingness to protect her at great personal cost.

For further exploration of these themes, see the book overview, the ending explained, and the questions and answers.