George and Kate

George and Kate are a married couple whose relationship is revealed here through Ham’s account of his long-standing attachment to Kate. His recollection establishes the marriage as a turning point in his private life: he says he could not forget Kate after she married George, and describes watching her from a distance rather than approaching her.

Marriage and Its Place in Ham’s Recollection

Ham remembers Kate’s marriage to George as the fact that made his desire unfulfilled. The evidence offers no account of the marriage from either spouse’s perspective; instead, their union appears through Ham’s sense of loss and the contrast between his longing and Kate’s life with George.

Ham’s Surveillance of Kate

Ham says he bought a CCTV camera so he could see Kate in the evenings when she came to his shop to buy turkey breast. He insists that he never touched her, distinguishing his watching from physical contact while acknowledging the persistence of his desire. The camera makes his attachment concrete: after Kate married George, Ham’s connection to her was reduced to observing brief visits to his shop. The account establishes no further details about the marriage or Kate’s awareness of his surveillance.