Walter Morel, in Sons and Lovers, is a hard working miner. He is married to his wife, Gertrude, who does not love him and makes no attempt to hide it. Slowly, he begins to drink to forget his domestic troubles and it begins a slow spiral into a darker place for him. His children begin to shy away from him, often opting to be gone when he arrives. They do not know him and he has no way to reach out to them to attempt to know them. In the end, sadly, though he lives in a house with many people in it, he is very much alone.