Patches in Sleepwalk: Character Analysis

Overview: A Doctor at the Center of the Conspiracy's Origin Story

Patches—whose full name is Porter St. Germaine—is a doctor, geneticist, and former roommate of the protagonist in Dan Chaon's Sleepwalk. He occupies a strange middle ground in the novel: he is at once the protagonist's closest friend from a formative period of his life and a figure deeply embedded in the conspiracy that surrounds the protagonist's biological children. Cammie, the woman who claims to be the protagonist's daughter, identifies Patches as the obstetrician who delivered her and as someone who was intimately involved in the scheme from its beginning.

Patches is a character of contradictions. He is described as witty, urbane, and generous, yet also manipulative, mean, and self-destructive. He is a doctor who has been connected to any number of organizations but has since fallen out of favor, bearing what the narrator calls the social stench of the ostracized. His role in the novel is to serve as a living link between the protagonist's past and the present conspiracy, and to deliver some of the most significant revelations about the scheme that produced over a hundred and sixty-seven children from the protagonist's genetic material.

Plot Role

Patches functions as connective tissue in the narrative. He is introduced through the protagonist's memories of their time together in Evanston, Illinois, roughly twenty-five years before the novel's present. In the present timeline, Cammie directs the protagonist to contact Patches, believing he holds answers about the conspiracy. This leads to two significant encounters: a meeting at the Bay Street Biergarten in Charleston, where Patches hints at the possibility that Cammie may be multiple people, and a visit to Patches's estate on Kiawah Island, where Patches reveals the mechanics of Brayden Kurch's scheme.

The Kiawah Island scene is pivotal. Patches explains that the protagonist's sperm sold for high six figures as part of Kurch's operation, that the protagonist carries unusual Neanderthal-associated DNA, and that the entire enterprise was essentially a Ponzi scheme built on crackpot eugenics. He also drugs the protagonist, leading to a harrowing escape sequence. Patches's prediction that the protagonist will be dead within a week hangs over the remainder of the novel.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Patches's motivations are complex and somewhat opaque, but his actions reveal a consistent pattern. He is described as driven and neurotically ambitious, a man who claimed descent from old wealth despite having less than a thousand dollars in his bank account. His ambition appears to be tied to a desire for status and belonging, which may explain his involvement with figures like Brayden Kurch and Tim Ribbons.

His manipulative nature is evident from the narrator's recollection: Patches operated by acting as if his ideas were your requests, confiding untrue things so you'd tell your own secrets, and pretending things that had happened hadn't. This is a key insight into his character—he is someone who bends reality to his purposes.

Yet Patches also shows genuine generosity. The narrator recalls that Patches would leave envelopes of twenty-dollar bills for him, brought him water when he was sick, and covered him with an afghan when he passed out. These acts complicate the portrait of Patches as purely self-serving. The narrator himself wonders how much of what Patches says is true, estimating the accuracy at anywhere from an eighth to half.

Patches is also self-destructive. He drinks heavily—a screwdriver that is approximately seventy percent vodka—uses drugs, and seems to be spiraling. The narrator observes that Patches is the kind of rich man other rich people consider expendable, and predicts he will eventually go to prison or die in his cell.

Chronological Arc

Patches's arc in the novel spans roughly twenty-five years, told through a combination of present-tense encounters and the protagonist's memories.

First meeting: The narrator meets Patches at a fraternity party in Evanston. Patches, sitting barefoot on his bed with unusually active toes, engages the narrator in conversation, asks about his plans, and eventually pays him two hundred dollars for a foot-related sexual act. This encounter establishes the strange intimacy and transactional nature of their relationship.

Roommates: Patches invites the narrator to move in with him, and they become close friends. The narrator describes their friendship as involving physical closeness—sitting together under a blanket, wrestling to electronic dance music, blowing pot smoke into each other's mouths. They shoplift together, lie for no reason, and commit acts of vandalism.

The sperm clinic: Patches tells the narrator about a clinic that will pay fifty dollars for a semen sample. This seemingly casual introduction sets the entire plot in motion. The narrator later wonders whether this was a coincidence or whether Patches was working for someone.

Recruitment by Tim Ribbons: While living with Patches, the narrator is summoned to a disco club where Tim Ribbons recruits him. The narrator notes that Ribbons didn't seem as surprised to see him again as he was to see Ribbons, suggesting a connection between Patches and Ribbons.

Twenty-five years later: The narrator calls Patches at Cammie's urging. They meet in Charleston, where Patches warns him about the Sisters and guides him through a tear gas-filled protest.

Kiawah Island: Patches reveals the details of Kurch's scheme, drugs the narrator, and predicts his death. The narrator escapes through a bathroom window.

Relationships

With the protagonist (Davey/Billy/Will): This is the most significant relationship in Patches's arc. Their friendship is marked by intimacy, manipulation, and genuine affection. Patches calls the narrator Davey and says that's why he can't stop loving him—because he's so blissfully self-unaware. Yet Patches also drugs him and predicts his death. The relationship is characterized by a fundamental ambiguity—Patches seems to genuinely care for the narrator while also being willing to use and betray him.

With Tim Ribbons: Patches was once paid by Ribbons to watch over the narrator. This suggests Patches was part of the surveillance network surrounding the protagonist long before the novel's present.

With Brayden Kurch: Patches was close to Kurch but they are now on the outs. Patches describes Kurch's scheme in dismissive terms, calling it a grift and a Ponzi scheme.

With Ward: Ward is a chimpanzee who communicates through sign language and lives with Patches. Patches claims Ward is also the narrator's progeny or kin, though this claim is presented as dubious. Ward seems to serve as a conscience or restraint on Patches, signing Stop when Patches is about to reveal too much.

With Cammie: Patches delivered Cammie but refuses to talk to her. Cammie believes Patches was the one who gave the narrator's DNA to Kurch.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Introducing the narrator to the sperm clinic: This is Patches's most consequential decision. Whether it was intentional or coincidental, it set in motion the entire conspiracy. The narrator's sperm was used to create over a hundred and sixty-seven children, and Patches was apparently involved in the scheme from the beginning.

Meeting the narrator in Charleston: Patches agrees to meet with the narrator, providing information about the Sisters and the possibility that Cammie is not a single person. This meeting also leads to the Kiawah Island encounter.

Revealing the scheme at Kiawah: Patches tells the narrator about the Neanderthal DNA, the high six-figure price of his sperm, and the Ponzi scheme nature of Kurch's enterprise. This information is crucial to the narrator's understanding of his situation.

Drugging the narrator: Patches drugs the narrator, likely through wasabi peas, and predicts he will be dead within a week. This act of betrayal forces the narrator to escape and sets up the final act of the novel.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Patches connects to several of the novel's central themes. His role in the sperm donation scheme ties directly to the theme of genetic inheritance and the commodification of reproduction. He is the conduit through which the protagonist's genetic material enters the marketplace, and his description of the scheme as a grift underscores the exploitative nature of the enterprise.

His manipulative nature connects to the theme of trust and deception. The narrator's uncertainty about Patches—whether he is a friend or an enemy, whether his kindness was genuine or calculated—mirrors the novel's broader exploration of unreliable relationships and hidden agendas.

Patches's claim about the Sisters connects to the theme of identity, multiplicity, and erasure. The suggestion that Cammie might be multiple people, or a collective, resonates with the novel's exploration of fragmented and constructed identities.

Finally, Patches's role as someone who was paid to watch over the narrator connects to the theme of surveillance and the impossibility of anonymity. The narrator's friendship with Patches, which he believed was a chance encounter, may have been part of a larger surveillance operation.

Questions and Answers

1. How did Patches and the protagonist first meet?

Patches and the protagonist met at a fraternity party in Evanston, Illinois, when the protagonist was passing through. Patches paid him two hundred dollars for a foot-related sexual act, and their acquaintance developed from there.

2. What was Patches's role in the sperm donation scheme?

Patches told the protagonist about the clinic that would pay fifty dollars for a semen sample. Cammie believes Patches was the one who gave the protagonist's DNA to Brayden Kurch, and Patches later confirms he was involved in the scheme, describing it as a Ponzi scheme built on crackpot eugenics.

3. Why does Patches drug the protagonist at Kiawah Island?

Patches drugs the protagonist, likely through wasabi peas, after revealing the details of Kurch's scheme. The narrator overhears Patches predicting he will be dead within a week, suggesting Patches may have been involved in a plan to eliminate him.

4. What does Patches reveal about the protagonist's DNA?

Patches reveals that the protagonist carries an unusually high number of DNA strands associated with the Neanderthal genome. This minor anomaly was a selling point for Kurch's scheme, which marketed the embryos as having unique non-Homo sapiens DNA.

5. What is Ward's role in Patches's household?

Ward is a chimpanzee who communicates through sign language and lives with Patches. Patches claims Ward is also the protagonist's progeny or kin, though this claim is presented as dubious. Ward seems to serve as a restraint on Patches, signing Stop when Patches is about to reveal too much.

For a deeper look at how Patches's revelations shape the novel's conclusion, see the ending explained page, or browse common reader questions.