He craves approval from teachers and pupils. His moral development seems entirely subjugated to his appetite for sexual encounters with his best friend, Dominic, a male teacher, a girl cousin and even a sheep. Now and then he is assailed by fear of God, hell and damnation, but usually only when he thinks his sexual activities are about to be discovered. A less obvious touch to the character of Karl de Man may lie in the choice of name, referring perhaps to the literary theorist, Paul de Man - after a distinguished career, it was revealed that he had collaborated with the Nazis in Belgium. Behr's preoccupation with betrayal permeates the book.
Embrace is overly and explicitly didactic.
For example, Behr uses Dominic and his parents to present not only a sane and accepting view of gay sexuality, but also as the voice of informed left political opinion. Too Deadly Serious in fact, almost 600 pages of it. The schoolmasterish tone is offset by several sections in which he appears to be deliberately and gratuitously offensive. Despite all this Behr holds the reader's attention to the end. In accepting this, Toomey has grace, dignity and integrity in abundance.