Heinrich, Jack’s fourteen year old son, is known as the oddball in the family. He is the opposite of his father, passionate for nothing, and constantly disagrees with Jack’s beliefs. They foil each other in many ways to create characterization and themes. One day while Jack is dropping off Heinrich at school, he realizes “his ready yielding to our wishes and demands is a private weapon of reproach” (22). Heinrich secretly criticizes his parents, especially Jack throughout the novel. Jack follows life with his senses while Heinrich ignores his feelings and uses facts and statistics. They argue over the simplest of things such as whether or not it really is raining. Every little form of a disagreement turns into a full on argument between these two characters. Heinrich’s arguing can be a symbol of his anger with his parents, society, or his own personal life. This can’t be determined easily though because his character is often shadowed. These two character’s contradictions help characterize each other. Their arguments tell a lot about them. Because of Heinrich’s appeal to logic, he constantly clashes with Jack because of his appeal to emotion. Whenever Heinrich is brought up in the novel, a bitter tone is used to express his anger. Whenever Heinrich and Jack get in a fight, Jack’s sadness is shown to represent his desperate desire for his son’s love and approval. Their flaws, desires, and other characteristics are shown through their differences. Heinrich could also be seen as, along with Jack's other kids, a criticism of extreme post-modern childhood. Heinrich has a harsh view of the world, which is seen explicitly during the Airborne Toxic Event, when he is describing what happened and the implications in incredibly harsh language.
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