The Changeling: A Novel

Content Warning: The source material for this study guide includes depictions of domestic violence, child abuse, and the death of a child. It also describes instances of parents attempting to kill their children and references death by suicide and racist attitudes.

Apollo Kagwa is the protagonist of The Changeling. Born to Brian West and Lillian Kagwa, he is raised by his mother after his father attempts to take his life when he is a young child. Lillian saves Apollo, and though the novel doesn’t explicitly state this, it implies that she kills her husband. She later suppresses the details of the incident, hoping that Apollo will forget it. However, Apollo’s memories of this event take the form of a recurring nightmare in which his father returns to him as a faceless man who promises to take Apollo away with him.

As a boy, Apollo remembers his father fondly even though he feels hurt that his father abandoned him. Apollo sees reading as a remnant of the bond between them since he, like his father, likes to read. Apollo holds on to the book Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak as a reminder of his father, understanding that Brian West would read it to him every night.