Nathan Price, the chief of the family, obtains a very important role throughout the story. He endures a position in which the decisions of the family and actions must pass though him or require him to supervise. Nathan acquires an occupation in which he is a Baptist minister, and this requires him to travel to certain places in the world to spread the word of the lord. Price is seen as an extremely independent character and it is proven time and time again that he lives by his own creed. This is much due to his efforts in World War II, where he barley scraped his way out of the Battaan Death March. If he would have been caught in the march, it would have meant sure death. Due to his efforts to escape the massacre, his fellow comrades fell to the force of the Death March, and ever since he viewed himself as a coward and felt detested by God. In return, he feels that he must never leave a dangerous situation behind and help as many people as possible to retain a respectable position in Gods eyes. So he decides to join a missionary, and travel the earth and help the needy. .
As the novel develops, it becomes clear that despite Nathans thoughts of bravery, he is actually still a coward. It becomes increasingly noticeable that he is not a man unselfishly devoted to a problem, but a man loyal to nothing and no one but himself. It is because of his spinelessness that motivates him to obtain his floppy and basic moral code to begin with. It appears that he is unable to accept the cluttered and unfair reality of life. He persuades himself that there is a divine being who plainly and sharply rewards all good and punishes all bad. It is obvious that Nathan is quite timorous and self deceiving through many situations in the story. His egomaniac personality and sense of personal property begins to set off people around him, even though they eventually just adjust and get used to the way their Father/Husband acts.