Character Relationship Map: Killing Dad

Characters

• Berg (played by Richard E. Grant) — protagonist

  Berg is a neurotic, unsuccessful door-to-door salesman and the son of Nathy and Edith. He travels to meet his estranged father, intending to kill him, but repeatedly loses his nerve and mistakenly str...

• Nathy (played by Denholm Elliott) — supporting

  Nathy is Berg's estranged father, who returns claiming he wants to reunite with his family and stays with Judith. Berg makes several attempts to kill him, but Nathy survives, including when Berg mista...

• Judith (played by Julie Walters) — supporting

  Judith is Nathy's much younger partner, whom Berg meets at the hotel while looking for his father. She throws Nathy out after an argument, later reunites with him, and becomes romantically involved wi...

• Luisa (played by Laura del Sol) — supporting

  Luisa is a Spanish flamenco dancer staying at the hotel. She speaks cryptically to Berg about the Oedipus complex and shows that she knows Nathy is his father. She later leaves for Broadstairs for ano...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Judith → Berg (Romantic New Lover) — Judith's relationship shifts from Nathy to Berg.

  Judith transfers her affections to Berg, and Berg later travels with her to inform his mother of their engagement.

• Judith → Nathy (Romantic Partner) — Judith is initially romantically involved with Nathy.

  Berg learns that Judith is Nathy's much younger partner, and Judith later reunites with Nathy at the hotel party.

• Berg → Nathy (Family Son) — Berg is Nathy's estranged son.

  Nathy is revealed to be Berg's father, although Nathy initially does not know that the hotel guest calling himself Greb is his son.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Luisa → Nathy (Social Identity Knower) — Luisa possesses knowledge about Nathy's identity and family connection.

  Luisa somehow knows that Nathy is Berg's father before Berg's situation is openly resolved.

• Luisa → Berg (Narrative Cryptic Adviser) — Luisa verbalizes the psychological meaning of Berg's conflict.

  Luisa makes cryptic references to Berg about the Oedipus complex and indicates that she knows Nathy is his father.

Story Analysis

Berg's attempt to escape an abandoned father becomes a comic psychological crisis involving mistaken violence, unstable desire, and family betrayal.

Plot Progression

1. The False Reunion — Berg learns that his abandoned father wants to reunite with the family. He travels to Southend under the alias Greb and meets Judith before confronting Nathy.
2. Patricide by Inches — Berg makes several unsuccessful attempts to kill Nathy while remaining close to him. Judith's conflicts with Nathy and the chaotic bingo incident intensify the unstable hotel environment.
3. The Dummy's Burning Secret — Nathy and Judith briefly reunite, while Luisa points Berg toward the Oedipal meaning of his situation. The ventriloquist's dummy is thrown out, burned, and recovered before Berg mistakes it for Nathy.
4. A Murder That Never Happened — Berg believes he has strangled Nathy and enlists Judith to hide the supposed body. Nathy's letter reveals that the victim was only the dummy, destroying Berg's apparent success.
5. Flight from the Family — Judith chooses Berg, but Nathy survives another public humiliation before leaving again. Berg discovers Nathy with his mother, suffers a breakdown, and heads toward Broadstairs in search of Luisa.