The Runaway : Summary

The protagonist in the story 'The Runaway', written by Morley Callaghan, is a young boy named Michael. He is described to be a boy whose life is divided between the pleasures of childhood, the pangs of love and the problems at home. He was younger than some of his friends but he was much bigger physically, his legs were long, his huge hands dangled awkwardly at his sides and his thick black hair curled up all over his head.

Adolescence is the most difficult stage of life. Teenagers are difficult to manage. They can be very sensitive, perhaps too sensitive on some occasions. It is hard to understand what they are going through; and due to this, they are likely to do strange things which is done by Michael in this story.
An adolescent, like Michael, in some way, is a little boy, but in others, is like a young man. He has fun with his friends, and suffers because of the tensions at home between his father and his stepmother. He is in love with a girl, but he can't find the right words to talk to her. Nothing in his life seems to be perfect; so for him there is only one possibility to make things better, that is to run away.

Michael's behaviour is affected by the tensions he is undergoing at home and in his love life. It is due to these tensions that he at first jumps down on the sawdust and the same tension disallows him to jump down the second time, while all other boys are able to do so, so he becomes a subject of jeer. He goes out to fight with a coloured boy only to establish his superiority, but then he makes friends with him and finds seveal qualities in the opponent. He loves his father and also his stepmother, he has a soft corner for his stepmother, but is unable to establish a good relationship with her because she reprimands him, though for his own good. What disturbs him more is that his father and stepmother quarrel all the time and that makes Michael feel unhappy and sorrowful. He is also ashamed that their hot arguments can be heard by the passersby and those living in the neighbourhood. This is one of the major reasons for him to decide to run away from home. He feels trapped in a society where everyone knows everyone and a family where his father had constant arguments with his stepmother.  He decides to run away from home to be with unknown people, but then he is going to his uncle in the city. Thus, we see that he is suffering from contradictory feelings all the time, unable to decide clearly what he wants.

Added to this tension is the fact that he is unable to establish communication with the girl he loves. It is then not a surprise that Michael feels the need to escape, to run away from everybody and visit “places with beautiful names, places like Tia Juana, Woodbine, Sartoga and Blue Bonnets.” He has a little doubt that he could find some solace with the girl he loves, but when he finds that she is in a relation with another boy, he bids her goodbye and firms up his decision to escape.

Michael, however, is not an irresponsible guy, he has plans to settle with his uncle in the city and he plans to write his agony to his father from the city. The story ends with a wide open future to the young boy.