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The Food of the Gods · Character

Skinner

A Hickleybrow farm labourer whose chicks fatten monstrously on Bensington's Herakleophorbia, until the Food gets into the family pudding and into him.

supporting

Also known as the Skinner, Mr. Skinner, Mrs. Skinner

First appearance: The Experimental Farm

As a supporting figure in The Food of the Gods, Skinner is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Farm caretaker; flees the farm with the Food after the giant chicks appear.
In the storyBook I: The Dawn of the FoodOpen this moment free

Skinner is the practical man on the ground at the experiment's first real test site, writing Bensington cautious letters about feed running short and a milk pudding that went disastrously wrong. He is proud of his management, boastful about the birds he and his wife raised at the other place, and quietly convinced that rank growth always stops. His farm is where the Food stops being a laboratory curiosity and becomes flesh, appetite, and consequence.

Free preview opens at this moment — character cards, Character Web, and themes sit beside the text as you read.

Character Web

18 connections

A slice of how Skinner sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

PRProfessor Redw…YRYoung RedwoodLWLady WondershootCOCossarCACaddlesSKSkinner

Relationship types

  • Professional
  • Rivalry
  • Other

Character groups

  • Village giants and opponents
  • Protagonist

+13 more in the full Character Web

Open in reader

Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

SetupEscalationClimax
  • Setup
  • Escalation
  • Breaking point
  • Aftermath
  • Closing

This is the story's dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak where Redwood’s p…

Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.

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Relationships

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

See Skinner in The Experimental Farm

In the story

Skinner appears across 21 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Skinner unlock in the free preview.

See Skinner in The Experimental Farm