Dick Crick is the elder brother of Tom. Dick is depicted as a ‘ potato head’, someone who lacks intellectual capacity. He struggles in school, failing to learn basic skills like reading and writing, and is often ridiculed by his classmates. His teacher gives up on him suggesting that Dick is fit only for manual labour. Surprisingly, his father Henry Crick accepts this judgement with relief, as if he wants Dick to remain an educated. As Dick grows older, he finds work as a labourer on a dredger and saves money to buy a motorcycle, which he values deeply even more than human beings. The motor cycle is the only thing that Dick talks to. Dick is referred to as a machine, just like his motorcycle without any emotion. When his mother dies, Dick gets depressed and couldn’t handle her death. His childlike mind thinks that she is hiding and would return back in mysterious way. His mother leaves a brass key of her chest, which he opens after her death. He finds a bottle inside and drinks from it, hoping it would bring back his mother but it doesn’t work.
The river and eel trapping, reminds him of his father. The river seems magical. He grows interest in a girl named Mary Metcalf. He secretly watches her from far and becomes fixated on her. However Dick doesn’t understand his feelings truly. His younger brother Tom also feels love towards Mary, and she feels the same for him. Mary, curious about Dick decides to watch him as he collects eels, and activity that Dick does without any thought. Dick is surprised to see her there. When Mary asks him for an eel, Dick is so moved by the idea of gifting her something that he freezes unable to react. Mary asks him to meet again on Friday. The thought of meeting, Mary again excites Dick.
Dick tries to impress Mary by taking personal care of himself in ways he never did before. He starts taking regular baths to get rid of the muddy smell. Dick tries to become the best version of himself for her. He is still confused about his feelings. He asks his father where babies come from, revealing his innocence and naivety. His father awkwardly responds to him by saying that babies come from ‘love’. Dick to simple to understand about love and reproduction believes that having a baby with Mary is the way to express his love for her. Mary tries to explain him shortly by using words like ‘holes’ and ‘things’. She suggests that his ‘thing’ was too big for the act, but Dick only gets more confused. It reveals his naivety and mental immaturity, despite being much elder to her in age.
Dick is physically stronger than other boys. He is also an excellent swimmer and easily wins the match with other boys. However, he is mentally undernourished because his blood is impure. The actual cause behind Dick’s mental issue is the incestuous relationship between his mother Helen and his grandfather, Ernest Atkinson. Dick later discovers letters from Ernest, which revealed this dirty truth that Henry Crick is not the real father but stepfather of Dick. Dick becomes so shocked and depressed after learning about this truth and he commits suicide. After he finds the letters from his grandfather (his biological father), Dick gets drunk and rides away on his motorbike. His family finds him about to jump into water, but couldn’t save him from drowning. It’s ironic that Dick died by drowning in the river, while he was the best swimmer in the village.