Wreck the Halls: A Novel

Beat Dawkins is another of the novel’s main characters. The third-person narrator also inhabits his consciousness throughout the narrative to grant access to his internal world even before Beat is ready to open up to the other characters. Beat is 30 years old in the narrative present and living in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood. Beat’s parents are former Steel Birds rockstar, Octavia Dawkins, and his stepfather, Rudy Dawkins. For years, Beat is convinced that Rudy is his biological father. However, the former Steel Birds drummer, Fletcher Carr, surfaces in his life and reveals that he is Beat’s biological father. Fletcher blackmails Beat for four years, insisting that if he doesn’t pay him large sums of money, he’ll reveal Beat’s paternity to the world. From a young age, Beat has learned to quiet his feelings and needs to preserve the “public perception of Octavia” (12). He, therefore, keeps the blackmail situation quiet in hopes of protecting his mother and stepfather. Beat’s habit of compartmentalizing his public and private lives complicates Beat’s ability to foster intimate relationships. He has friends but keeps them at a distance because he’s afraid that his life might compromise his parents’ lives. Over time, these habits preclude Beat’s ability to connect with others in honest, open, and healthy ways.

Beat’s evolving relationship with Melody helps him to grow and change throughout the novel. Beat is a naturally confident and outgoing individual. Therefore, the “Wreck the Halls” publicity doesn’t impact him in the same way it does Melody. However, spending time with Melody throughout the “Wreck the Halls” project does teach Beat how to be vulnerable and how to claim his identity without shame. Melody teaches him that if he wants to have a balanced romance with her, he must let her into his heart and trust her. Observing Melody’s behaviors also teaches Beat about using his voice, looking out for others, and articulating his feelings.

Beat is also a protective, caring character. He knows that Melody is strong and independent, but his deep love for her inspires his constant desire to keep her safe and out of harm’s way. This is why he reacts strongly when the media misrepresents Melody or Melody’s family fails to see or stand up for her. Beat’s protectiveness is, therefore, his way of demonstrating how much he cares for Melody. At the same time, Beat must learn to balance his protective nature with Melody’s independence. He changes throughout the novel because he gradually learns to let go of his usual defense mechanisms and to engage in healthier intimate relationships.

Trina Gallard is a secondary character. She is Melody’s mother. In the 90s, Trina was a member of the popular rock duo Steel Birds. For years, she and her musical partner, Octavia Dawkins, were close friends and colleagues. However, when their drummer, Fletcher Carr, came between them, Trina pushed Octavia away. After the band broke up, she fled New York and created a life for herself in New Hampshire. In the narrative present, Trina rarely sees her daughter. She visits New York once a year to catch up with Melody but fails to invest in Melody’s life during these trips.

Throughout the novel, Melody tries to confront her mother about how her maternal absence has impacted her psychologically and emotionally. Her mother is talented, strong-willed, free-spirited, and fierce. Therefore, standing up to her is challenging for Melody, who is more reserved by comparison. However, once Melody and Trina learn how to communicate more effectively, they discover new things about each other and heal their relationship. In particular, Trina confesses that leaving her comfort zone in New Hampshire and visiting New York made her feel like she was “reliving the past” (306). She admits that she let her fears and regrets keep her from connecting with Melody. These confessions bring Trina and Melody closer and resolve their previous misunderstandings.

Octavia Dawkins is a secondary character. She is Beat’s mother and a former member of Steel Birds. In the narrative present, she is married to Beat’s stepfather, Rudy Dawkins. She lives in New York City and runs the Ovations charity. She and Beat have a nominally stable relationship. They connect over their charity work, in particular. However, Octavia doesn’t realize how growing up in the spotlight has impacted her son throughout his coming of age and adulthood. She also fails to imagine that Beat knows about his biological father and is hiding many secrets from her to preserve her public reputation. Like Trina, Octavia’s fandom and her fraught past consumed her preoccupations, which blinded her from her son’s needs. However, she and Beat do heal their relationship throughout the novel. Octavia becomes particularly invested in Beat’s life after she meets Melody and learns about “Wreck the Halls.” Over time, she not only opens up to her son and her husband but also makes amends with Trina and welcomes Melody into her life.

Danielle Doolin is a secondary character. She is a producer at Applause Network and the mind behind the “Wreck the Halls” live stream and the Steel Birds reunion. She contacts Beat and Melody by email at the start of the novel, offering them $1 million in exchange for helping the network reunite Steel Birds in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Beat and Melody are initially skeptical of Danielle and unsure if they should trust her. However, Danielle proves herself to be a caring individual who has the protagonists’ best interests in mind. She is indeed eager to succeed at reuniting Steel Birds, but she also develops a genuine interest in Beat and Melody as people. She, therefore, does her best to give them their privacy and to guide them throughout the “Wreck the Halls” project.

Fletcher Carr is a secondary character and the antagonist of the novel. Fletcher is the former drummer of Steel Birds. In the narrative present, he surfaces in Beat’s life when he discovers that he can blackmail his biological son for large sums of money. Before Fletcher contacts him, Beat thinks that Rudy Dawkins is his father. Fletcher reveals otherwise, shattering Beat’s sense of family and self and threatening his emotional stability in the present. Beat gives in to Fletcher’s demands because he values Octavia and Rudy’s well-being over his own.

Throughout most of the novel, Fletcher incites narrative tension by repeatedly threatening Beat. He texts and calls him and appears at his apartment unannounced. These actions augment the narrative stakes and pressurize Beat’s character. However, once Beat tells Melody and Octavia about him, Fletcher loses his power. In turn, Octavia and Trina realize they need to stop their former bandmate once and for all. Both women had sexual relationships with him 30 years prior, and they let this love triangle tear them apart. By exposing Fletcher at the novel’s end, they effectively disempower him and keep him from hurting anyone else in their inner circle.