Back to Methuselah · Character

Haslam

A young clergyman with nothing clerical about him but his collar, who stumbles into the Barnabas study and finds their talk of three-hundred-year lives oddly persuasive.

supporting

Also known as Mr. Haslam, The Clerical Gentleman Mr. Haslam, Haslam Beaming, Mr. Haslam Bill, Bill, poor old Bill, the Reverend Bill Haslam, Haslam Oh

First appearance: part ii the gospel of the brothers barnabas

As a supporting figure in Back to Methuselah, Haslam is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

See Haslam in part ii the gospel of the brothers barnabas Book page

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Haslam arrives at the Barnabas house an unwelcome guest, admits he was shoved into the Church by family convenience, and cheerfully concedes that if he had nine hundred years he would chuck the whole shop. His bird that sings 'stick it or chuck it' becomes the play's wry refrain for a man who cannot take his own vocation seriously because life is too short for seriousness. He is the audience's surrogate: ordinary, good-humored, and slowly drawn into the brothers' argument that only longer life could make a real conscience possible.

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See Haslam in part ii the gospel of the brothers barnabas