There are many examples within the literature that illustrate the character of Mooch. To begin, Mooch clearly possesses dysfunctional personality traits. Mooch abuses alcohol and has a severe gambling addiction. Mooch irresponsibly spends money on pull tabs to keep gambling in hopes to “pull three beavers”. We also read into Mooch’s alcohol problem and how he steals his girlfriends money to buy more drinks. It’s clear that Mooch’s vices negatively affect his friends and family around him. To continue, Mooch is a traumatized victim of residential schools. Mooch says he was sexually and physically abused during his stay at a residential school “only 5 minutes away from home”. Now that we understand Mooch’s past and his trauma, we understand why Mooch carries dysfunction. Mooch uses gambling and alcohol as tools to suppress his traumatic memories which he refers to as “shadows”. Last, Mooch is a resilient character. Mooch has seen and experienced many painful moments yet still holds on and finds enjoyment in life despite of his current issues and past.

Mooch is a character who is broken by a traumatic past that keeps haunting him. He doesn’t want to deliberately hurt people but sometimes he’s unaware about how much his actions affect others. We can’t justify Mooch’s behaviour but we can understand why Mooch is Mooch.