Natalie Deepneau
Natalie Deepneau, called Nat, is the infant daughter of Ed and Helen Deepneau. She is a little over a year old when the novel's main events unfold, and her presence is a constant, fragile counterpoint to the escalating violence and madness around her. She is described as having huge dark-blue eyes and a cap of fine hair, and she is often referred to by Ralph Roberts with affectionate titles like "the Exalted & Revered Baby." Her very existence becomes the prize in a cosmic struggle between the Purpose and the Random, a struggle that ultimately demands Ralph's life in exchange for her own.
Life and Plot Trajectory
Natalie's early life is marked by the domestic violence that shatters her family. On the day her father, Ed, beats her mother Helen so severely that she staggers into the Red Apple store with blood streaming down her face, Natalie is carried precariously on her mother's hip, nearly dropped in the chaos. Ralph Roberts catches her just in time, an act that forges a deep bond between them. After this incident, Helen takes Natalie to High Ridge, a shelter for battered women, where the child thrives among other children. She is described as being happy there, crawling around with kids her own age. Following the attack on High Ridge by Ed's radical associates, Ralph and Lois Chasse rescue Natalie and her mother from the burning cellar, cementing the child's role as a life Ralph has saved once and will be compelled to save again.
Key Actions and Relationships
Natalie's most significant actions are not those of a typical protagonist but are instead the instinctive behaviors of a very young child that carry profound narrative weight. She is the only character besides Ralph who can see the auras and the "balloon-strings" that connect living beings to their life force. When Ralph wipes milk from her chin, his fingers leave "delicate gray-blue lines in the air," and Natalie snatches at them, laughing as they dissolve. She also stares fixedly at the "low green mist" sizzling off the stems of cut flowers, a sight only Ralph can also perceive. This ability marks her as a being of special perception, one who exists on the cusp of the hidden world. Her relationship with Ralph is one of pure, uncomplicated trust; she is completely comfortable in his arms, and he is deeply moved by her affection. This bond makes the final choice he must make for her all the more poignant.
The Climax and Thematic Significance
Natalie's life is the central stake in the novel's climax. Atropos, the rogue agent of the Random, threatens to kill her in a hit-and-run accident as a punishment for Ralph's interference in his plans. Ralph, having made a pact with the agents of the Purpose, Clotho and Lachesis, knows that to save her, he must take her place. He watches from across the street as Natalie, wearing a sailor shirt and blue shorts, walks toward the road with her jump-rope, unaware of the green Ford sedan bearing down on her. At the last possible second, Ralph shoves her out of the car's path, taking the fatal impact himself. His final act is a direct, selfless trade of his life for hers, fulfilling the promise he made. Natalie survives, weeping but physically unharmed, sitting in the gutter. Her survival is the ultimate affirmation of Ralph's choice and the novel's central theme: that individual love and sacrifice can triumph over the cold, deterministic forces of fate. She represents the future, the innocent life worth dying for, and her continued existence is Ralph's final, enduring victory.
