Richard Mayhew
"He was a fresh-faced, boyish young man, with dark, slightly curly hair and large hazel eyes; he had a rumpled, just-woken-up look to him, which made him more attractive to the opposite sex than he would ever understand or believe."
At the beginning of the novel, Neverwhere, Richard Mayhew is an average, young, Scottish man, looking to live out his ambitions in England’s heart – London. But once he arrives, he realizes that he does not truly know who he is as a person.
He finds a woman named Jessica, and falls in love with her. He is easily swayed in his decisions, and essentially allows Jessica to control every aspect of his life; from the way he dresses, to the décor of his office, to even their engagement.
“Jessica saw in Richard an enormous amount of potential […] so she gave him books with titles like Dress for Success and A Hundred and Twenty-Five Habits of Successful Men. […] She would pick out for him the kinds of clothes she thought that he should wear […] and, a year to the day after their first encounter, she told him she thought it was time that they went shopping for an engagement ring.”
Although Jessica micromanages Richard’s life, she doesn’t know him as well as one would normally know their lover, especially after a year. Their relationship is not a traditional one, based entirely on love; Jessica seems to enjoy bringing forth a more ambitious side to Richard, whereas Richard is only with her because she is something different in his otherwise tedious life.
“Jessica had […] convinced herself that Richard's troll collection was a mark of endearing eccentricity […] and she had come to the conclusion that great men always collected something. In actuality, Richard did not really collect trolls.”
He does everything Jessica tells him to do because he is in awe of her and wants to appease her, but in doing so, doesn't give himself the opportunity to find out what he really wants in life, in terms of his personal aspirations. He seems to only be marrying Jessica because it is expected of him, and because he has a need to fill the emptiness of his life outside of work, with the presence of another person.
He however realizes that he does not need another person in his life in order to make it satisfying. When he saves a dying Door and is thrust into the world of London Below, he begins to comprehend the extent of his own abilities.
This parallel world of London Below is an underground collection of those who don’t quite belong in London Above – a place where you would sooner find yourself facing a mythical creature than your boss. It is here where Richard finds himself in a foreign world full of danger and adventure, but most importantly, it is where he finds himself.
Throughout the book, he realizes that he is more than what he had initially thought he had been. He is not one of the many who belong in the version of London that everyone is familiar with; he belongs in London Below, where he is himself, not the boring, mediocre man he had thought himself to be, but the courageous and loyal one he truly is.
He finds a woman named Jessica, and falls in love with her. He is easily swayed in his decisions, and essentially allows Jessica to control every aspect of his life; from the way he dresses, to the décor of his office, to even their engagement.
“Jessica saw in Richard an enormous amount of potential […] so she gave him books with titles like Dress for Success and A Hundred and Twenty-Five Habits of Successful Men. […] She would pick out for him the kinds of clothes she thought that he should wear […] and, a year to the day after their first encounter, she told him she thought it was time that they went shopping for an engagement ring.”
Although Jessica micromanages Richard’s life, she doesn’t know him as well as one would normally know their lover, especially after a year. Their relationship is not a traditional one, based entirely on love; Jessica seems to enjoy bringing forth a more ambitious side to Richard, whereas Richard is only with her because she is something different in his otherwise tedious life.
“Jessica had […] convinced herself that Richard's troll collection was a mark of endearing eccentricity […] and she had come to the conclusion that great men always collected something. In actuality, Richard did not really collect trolls.”
He does everything Jessica tells him to do because he is in awe of her and wants to appease her, but in doing so, doesn't give himself the opportunity to find out what he really wants in life, in terms of his personal aspirations. He seems to only be marrying Jessica because it is expected of him, and because he has a need to fill the emptiness of his life outside of work, with the presence of another person.
He however realizes that he does not need another person in his life in order to make it satisfying. When he saves a dying Door and is thrust into the world of London Below, he begins to comprehend the extent of his own abilities.
This parallel world of London Below is an underground collection of those who don’t quite belong in London Above – a place where you would sooner find yourself facing a mythical creature than your boss. It is here where Richard finds himself in a foreign world full of danger and adventure, but most importantly, it is where he finds himself.
Throughout the book, he realizes that he is more than what he had initially thought he had been. He is not one of the many who belong in the version of London that everyone is familiar with; he belongs in London Below, where he is himself, not the boring, mediocre man he had thought himself to be, but the courageous and loyal one he truly is.
*SPOILER* This clip from the end of the BBC TV series "NEVERWHERE" shows the final, most important development of Richard Mayhew. He realizes that after his dangerous. exciting life in London Below, he will have a hard time adjusting to his usual boring, routine. Will he return to London Below? Can he? Watch to find out...