# Lawrence Watts — Short Fiction character guide

> Lawrence Watts in Short Fiction by Philip K. Dick.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Watts, Larry

**First appearance:** 0005-the-hanging-stranger

## Snapshot

A practical man who bought a cuckoo clock outright and now shares his silent house with it, resenting every bird that refuses to perform on schedule.

## Who they are

Larry comes home to find his wife Doris and a young man named Bob Chambers standing before the antique clock she adores, and his response is immediate, proprietary, and cold. He keeps the clock after Doris leaves, not out of affection but because he paid for it, and the house is too quiet without something running around and dropping things. His standoff with the cuckoo — a bird that sulks inside its door and speaks in a sullen, uncooperative voice — becomes the story's central domestic war, a man arguing with an object that seems to be arguing back.

## Relationships

### [Doris](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/characters/doris)

_romantic_

Doris and Lawrence Watts share a tender romantic relationship, characterized by mutual affection and emotional support.

### [Doris](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/characters/doris)

_romantic_

Doris and Lawrence Watts share a tender romantic relationship, characterized by mutual affection and emotional support.

### [Doris](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/characters/doris)

_romantic_

Doris and Lawrence Watts share a tender romantic relationship, characterized by mutual affection and emotional support.

## In the story

### [Beyond the Door](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/beyond-the-door)

Larry buys the cuckoo clock for Doris, resents it, and ultimately threatens it with a hammer before being attacked by the cuckoo.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/characters/lawrence_watts
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/characters