Mr Stink

Mr. Stink is the second main character of the novel. He is an unhoused man who lives on a park bench in a town in England. Because of Mr. Stink’s poverty, he is largely excluded from society, making him feel lonely: “The town folk were mostly nice to him. They sometimes dropped a few coins at his feet, before rushing off with their eyes watering. But no one was really friendly towards him. No one stopped for a chat” (10).

While Mr. Stink initially refuses to tell Chloe about his past, there are many clues which hint that he originally came from a wealthy family. For example, he has a “posh” accent, uses a silver spoon and china plate to eat his meals, and has genteel manners toward Chloe. At the end of the story, Mr. Stink reveals that he is in fact Lord Darlington. As an aristocrat he once owned a stately home and enjoyed a life of luxury: “Well, I had it all, child. More money than I could ever spend, a beautiful house with its own lake. My life was like an endless summer. Croquet, tea on the lawn, long lion days spent playing cricket” (228).

Mr. Stink is depicted as a kind person, as he tries to repay Chloe’s generosity by giving her friendship and advice in return. Mr. Stink is a sympathetic listener to Chloe’s problems and encourages her to try to resolve her family issues. He also defends her against her bully, Rosamund, earning Chloe’s trust and cementing their friendship: “‘You need to stand up to her,’ pronounced Mr. Stink. ‘Let her be the one to cross the road!’” (73). When Rosamund taunts Chloe, Mr. Stink calls her a “nasty little bully” and scares her away with his terrible burp (74). As their friendship deepens, Mr. Stink also takes a special interest in Chloe’s welfare and even confronts her mean mother and asks her to be kinder to Chloe.

Mrs. Crumb is Chloe’s mother, and the antagonist of the story. She is an aspiring politician who is standing for election to become a Member of Parliament. Mrs. Crumb is depicted as a superficial person who longs to be seen as upper-class. She sends her daughters to a private school, wears fancy clothes, and looks down on people who are less wealthy than herself. The author writes, “She was obsessed with Being Posh. […] She was so used to turning up her nose at everybody and everything, it was in danger of staying that way” (28). She even tries to change the pronunciation of her last name, Crumb, to “Croooome,” to make it sound more upper-class.

Mrs. Crumb holds cruel attitudes toward unhoused people and encourages her daughters to think the same way. She bans them from speaking to unhoused people, who she refers to as “creatures” (12). Chloe knows that her mother would disapprove of her speaking to Mr. Stink: “Mrs. Crumb would be horrified to find out her daughter had been sitting on a bench with someone she would describe as a ‘soap-dodger’” (47).

Mrs. Crumb is also insensitive to her daughter, Chloe, insulting her weight and her interest in creative writing. Mrs. Crumb’s cruel comments make Chloe feel ostracized and lonely, and “homeless in her heart” (59). She is also mean to her husband, who is frightened of her temper and harsh judgments: “He was a big powerful man, but his wife made him feel small inside” (28). Mrs. Crumb’s mean-spirited attitudes to others make her the main antagonist of the story.

Over the course of the story, she changes dramatically, realizing that her parenting habits and attitudes have hurt others and ruined her own chances of success. At the end of the story Mrs. Crumb humbly admits that she was wrong to be so unkind to her family and Mr. Stink, and admits that she should not have been so snobbish, telling everyone she feels “so bad” that she had it “so wrong” (246).

Mr. Crumb is Chloe’s father and a secondary character in the story. Like Chloe, Mr. Crumb is depicted as a sensitive and artistic person who must hide his real feelings from Mrs. Crumb to avoid her judgment. He did not always work in a car factory—he used to be in a band and loved being a musician before Mrs. Crumb told him to quit. Afraid of his wife’s temper, Mr. Crumb hides the fact that he has lost his job, knowing that she hates people who are unemployed. At the end of the story, Chloe helps her Dad become more honest about everything with his wife: “Unemployed, yes. Or ‘dole scum’ as you might say. I was too scared to tell you so I’ve been hiding in the room under the stairs for the last month’” (246).

Mr. Crumb is Chloe’s more supportive parent. When Chloe wants to help Mr. Stink, Mr. Crumb allows her to take him some sausages. Later, when Chloe invites Mr. Stink into the family shed without permission, Mr. Crumb tries to hide her secret from his wife to spare Chloe from getting into trouble. During Mr. Stink’s television appearance, Mr. Crumb praises Chloe’s generosity and encourages her to go on TV and wave to the audience: “You’re a fantastic girl. You should be proud of what you’ve done. Now come on. Enjoy your moment in the limelight!” (189).