Blake Gethen

Blake Gethen is one of the four main characters of Figments. He suffers from Lyssophobia (the fear of going insane) which is the plays main focus. Due to his fear he often sees imaginary people "Figments" who worsen his fear and often cloud his vision of what's truley before him. He is married to Susan Gethen and has two daughters, Julie Gethen and Rachel Gethen.

His Life
Blake's childhood was unlike any other characters and beyond normal. His father, Gary Gethen was often away touring with his band and would rarely see Blake and when he did it was for short periods of time. Blake is a single child so his mother, Caroline Gethen, relied on him to take care of her even from a young age. Blake often had to do his best to keep the house clean and make sure everything was perfect for how Caroline would see things due to her illness. Due to his lifestyle his school grades were rather low to average but he was able to get into college studying Media Studies. As soon as he was 16 he got a job as a waiter to support his mother and buy college supplies. At the age of 18 Caroline was submitted to an insane assylum leaving Blake alone until Gary left his band to stay with Blake, but the heartache of it all forced Gary into acoholism. This is roughly when his fear began to start as to him his mother wasn't as insane as the authorities made her out to be and eventually began to believe there was something wrong with him. At the age of 20 he began to seek psychiatric help for his concerns. By the time Blake was 21 he was living in his own apartment whilst still working as a waiter but hoping to find a job as a Cameraman.

Just after his 21st birthday he was on the underground when he offered his seat to, Susan, after she asked him for directions to Waterloo Road he stuttered and found it difficult to tell her where to go. Eventually he offered to lead her there since he was going there himself and she accepted. From then on they established a close relationship and after just eight months of being together they got married (to much dismay of Susan's family). As time went on and with the constant torment of Susan's family his fear began to get worse and he started to see therapists a lot more often causing them to have money troubles. Despite being married and young they didn't have their first child, Julie Gethen for another 8 years due to their concerns of Blake's stability.

Just after his wedding he began to work at Bizz Productions as a cameraman and often worked directly under, Lloyd Coxly and occasionally, Mickey Bizz himself.

At the age of 30 (Where the play begins) his fear was the worst it had ever been even causing him to have a Figment always near him and keeping a gun in his bedside table. Susan had got him a new therapist, Edward Carey, specialising in hypnotherapy. He was often sceptical of Carey's methods but agreed to them. However, as time went on he began to see more Figments and overal began to see things that weren't really happening. One incident included him believing Julie was in danger and being taken by a mysterious man (Later known to be Mickey Bizz) causing him to scream waking up Susan and the unharmed Julie. A few months later he was put through an excercise which led him to walk down a street in his mind and witness himself about to shoot someone. After Carey pulled him out of the hypnosis Blake declared "I was like a puppet on a string, I had no control", causing Carey to tell him of a mental-disorder called Bi-polar depersonalisation (where two sides of a person are fighting for control of each other).

At work the same day, as he's moving to a different Camera, Mickey bumps into him spilling hot coffee down himself. Despite it being his fault, Mickey yells at Blake and ends up firing him, leading to Blake being followed by loads of Figments and his paranoia is at an all time high. When he gets home, there are Figments all over the place jumping around him and backing him into a corner. Fearing for his safety he grabs his gun aiming it at the Figments, but as it lands on one that is closest to him the rest of the Figments drop and the one left standing is revealed to be Susan. She is staring at him scared and almost instantly Blake drops the gun terrified at his own actions. A few moments after Julie begins to cry, automatically he begins to walk toward her but is stopped by Susan yelling at him to "Stay away from her!" aiming the gun with a shaking hand. After he stops Susan drops the gun and grabs Julie running from the house despite the pleas from Blake to stay. Unknowingly to Blake, Susan is pregnant with their second daughter, Rachel Gethen.

A few days later Blake is found at his home by Carey and curled into a corner. Carey then declares that Blake should know what he has to do to get his family back and leaves him alone. Blake then grabs his gun and leaves his home finding himself at the Studios where he works. Feeling this strange control over him he aims the gun at Mickey unable to stop himself. In his head he sees the Figments holding his arms up, stopping him from turning away. Despite Mickey's pleas, Blake fires the gun, three times killing Mickey instantly. Instead of running Blake can only fall to the floor and allow the authorites to arrest him. The next day, Carey visits Blake and shockingly admits to him that everything that has been happening in the last few months is because of the hypnosis he's been afflicting on Blake and that it was all part of his revenge on Mickey Bizz for firing him years ago. Leaving him with the thought he is just a murderer and truly insane, and knowing no one would believe him, Carey leaves Blake to deal with what he has done, getting away with his crime. After Carey leaves, Susan arrives to give a photograph of the family and begins to leave when Blake tells "I'm sorry I hurt you" to which she replies "So am I" with which she places her hand on her stomach hinting to the audience about their baby.

For the next 15 years Blake is in a mental hospital without family or friends visiting and without knowing anything of the outside world.

Relationships
With Susan, Julie and Rachel:

Susan is very important to Blake as most of the time she stops the Figments getting near him (although she can't see them). Susan acts as his rock and can often calm his fear temporarily and is most likely the only person Blake trusts 100%. Despite Julie being an accident as soon as she was born, Blake felt immediatly bonded and protective of her as he wanted to be the dad his wasn't. However, at first he was very awkward with her and had no idea how to act needing to be guided by Susan on how to do things such as hold her, feed her and change her. Blake didn't know Rachel exsisted until he was allowed out of the assylum, 15 years later. At first being a shock to him he then tried his best to establish a bond with her.

With Gary and Lucy:

When Blake moved out he rarely visited or contacted his father, especially when he began dating Susan. After about 6 months with Susan he took her to meet his father at his home and to his shock he found he had remarried an 18 year old pole dancer, Lucy Gethen. He finds his father an embarrassment and can't really talk to him due to him being drunk most of the time. Lucy is usually all over Blake finding him very attractive and is jealous that he doesn't like her in the way most men do. Blake finds this very awkward and another reason to be embarrassed by his family.

 With the Taylors: 

Blake doesn't get along with most of the Taylors (Susan's family) except for Harry Taylor (younger brother) and Julia Taylor (Grandmother). The rest often belittle him and disaprove of his lifestyle and job. Lisa Taylor (older sister) is probably the most out spoken of her feelings toward Blake by purposley forgetting his name and not inviting him to family gatherings. Susan's parents, Ronald Taylor and Claudia Taylor stay clear of him but when they do have to socialise with him will not be polite and will pass on hurtful comments. Harry is one of Blake's best friends (another being Skeffington) as he is one of the first to be told by Harry about his sexuality.