body and quick anger create quarrels Careless and Deceptive Husband Gertrude marries him with hope Soon she feels cheated Morel lies about money and property His wife finds out that even the house is not truly his This moment kills her love She feels trapped Misery fills the house So Lawrence says There was a feeling of misery over all the house He also spends money on drinks instead of family needs Quarrels become common Thus as a husband Morel is careless and selfish He loses his wife s trust forever Love for Drink and Games Morel prefers drink and games to family He spends hours in the Nelson a bar or the Three Spots He is skilled in pub local bar games Lawrence says about him He was a master of skittles and of dominoes These nights of pleasure leave his wife alone and angry The children suffer in poverty He returns home drunk and quarrels rise His joy in the pub becomes pain for the family This habit paints him as a weak man He escapes duty through drink A Weak Father Figure As a father Morel cannot win the hearts of his children They grow close to their mother not him After William s death he shows sorrow but in silence At the pit when Paul comes with the news Morel leaned up against a truck-side his hand over his eyes He was not crying Paul stood looking round waiting Here father and son stand apart There is no comfort between them His grief is real but he cannot share it Later Paul too feels distant Thus Morel fails as a father not because he does not feel but because he cannot express A Man with Hidden Emotion Even with his faults Morel is not heartless Sometimes his feelings show quietly When Paul succeeds as a painter he feels pride Lawrence says He was silent with conceit of his son He hides his tears He cannot speak love but he feels it This makes him a tragic figure He is not cruel by nature His silence is his good side In him Lawrence shows the pain of men broken by work and poverty Walter Morel is a man of strength and weakness He works hard but drinks too much He lies to his wife and loses her trust He cannot love his children openly Yet sometimes he feels pride and sorrow He is not fully bad but broken by habit and poverty His character shows how silence drink and quarrels destroy family life