Oil on Water

Content Warning: Both the novel and this guide reference alcohol and substance addiction, sexual assault, suicide, imperialism, and wartime violence.

Rufus is the protagonist and narrator, so readers experience the novel’s action through his eyes. He is a journalist searching for a story that will place him in the upper tier of reporters and make his superiors excited to give him big stories and the acclaim he desires. Rufus carries with him a lot of guilt, having not been there for his sister when the two great tragedies of her life occurred: the scarring of her face in an oil fire and the departure of her husband, John. Rufus has decided to volunteer for the mission at hand: finding the supposedly kidnapped Isabel Floode. He does this because his hero, Zaq, is involved, and Rufus will do just about anything to work with his idol. Rufus is the apprentice archetype, learning from an exciting if flawed mentor.

Zaq is a famous journalist who made his name by taking a perspective that others didn’t see in a story in and writing about it. His most famous stories, which helped launch his career, were about the sex workers that he befriended at Bar Beach.