Throughout the novel, Charles seems to be a short-sighted character who epitomizes the idea that "people sink out of sight, drown in the shadows of closer things" (337).  By the end of the novel, Charles is engrossed by a "need to see [Sarah] again: it was to possess her, to melt into her, to burn, to burn, to burn to ashes on that body and in those eyes.  To postpone such desire for a week, a month, a year, several years even, that can be done.  But for eternity is when the iron bites" (347).  What drives Charles' intense feelings?  Is it his need for purpose or his desire to seek the ultimate truth of love?  Or, is it a desire that has burned in humans since Adam and Eve or is he driven by the disappearance of God?

            As I finished reading this novel, I began to consider Charles as a character unknowingly driven by religion.  Last night, the sermon at church was about a need we feel deep within our souls that we constantly try to satisfy, but it cannot be satisfied by anything on this earth.  Although Charles admits that he doesn't generally practice religion and is considered a character filled with sin, is he driven by this need that is impossible to fulfill?  Has he ignorantly sought to fulfill the need through sin?  Or, is Charles a character driven by the confines of religion, by a "hunger of a long frustration, not merely sexual, for a whole ungovernable torrent of things banned, romance adventure, sin, madness, animality, all these coursed wildly through him" (349)?

            On the other hand, Charles could be driven by the disappearance of God.  The narrator notes that

"we all are novelists, that is, we have a habit of writing fictional futures for ourselves, although perhaps today we incline more to put ourselves into a film.  We screen in our minds hypotheses about how we might behave, about what might happen to us; and these novelistic or cinematic hypotheses often have very much more effect on how we actually do behave, when the real future becomes the present, than we generally allow" (339). 

In a world where some believe God is disappearing, is Charles an example of a person who attempts to take fate and design into their own hands?

            Another idea is that Charles is driven by a general lack of purpose.  He commonly remarks, "deep in myself, Ernestina, I have always felt that my life has been without purpose, without achievement" (377).  Perhaps the connection Charles feels with Sarah also brings a purpose upon him of being a person Sarah can rely on.  Or, he could feel a purpose of a provider.  Is it because Ernestina is so well off that Charles doesn't feel a sense of purpose with her?  What characterizes situations in which Charles feels a sense of purpose?