"Enduring Love". One of the first things we learn about Jed Parry is that he seems to be un-phased by the accident he had just witnessed

Parry also comes across as painfully introverted and awkward. On his second meeting with Joe ‘his eyes made a nervous pass across [Joe’s] face, and then turned down.’ This demonstrates how Parry may be somewhat of a social outcast and a loner. This could be a result of his obsessive mannerisms. Parry also appears to be a very sensitive character. He is full of love, ‘I feel it too, I love you’, he is not hateful or bitter most of the time. His sensitivity is shown when he ‘puts his hands over his face and start[s] to cry.’ However, this kind of behaviour seems rather pathetic coming from a grown man and makes the reader feel somewhat pitiful of him.

In Jed’s relationship with Joe, Parry seems to push the blame on to Joe a lot of the time. ‘You don’t have to do this to me’ demonstrates how Parry claims to be the victim in this situation. He tries to make Joe responsible for everything, when Jed’s emotions are clearly a result of his own delusions. He also accuses Joe of being ‘very cruel.’ Jed does not give a proper explanation as to why he thinks Joe is cruel; this shows he is probably quite insecure.

Jed is also delusional in the sense that he imagines that Joe reciprocates his love. ‘You love me, you love me and there’s nothing I can do but return your love.’ Joe does not show obvious signs of affection towards Jed in anyway, so this is an indication that Jed is probably quite mentally unstable. He lives in a fantasy world and often misinterprets Joe’s actions.

Finally, Jed plays a big role in destroying Joe and Clarissa’s relationship. The first way he does this is to come between their trusts. We first see Clarissa having doubts in Jed when she says ‘Perhaps Parry or the Parry as described by Joe does not exist.’ This is when their trust begins to break down and it can only get deteriorate more as Parry’s stalking begins to worsen.