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Origami Slowly Folding Back Together

A Character Analysis of Amos Burton from the Expanse

By Tom McDermottPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Trigger/Spoiler Warning: This piece will cover very unsettling topics such as sexual assault, pedophilia, and child abuse, so please be forewarned. Plot points may be touched upon, so if you'd like to experience the series completely unawares, you may not want to read this piece until you've watched or read the series.

Amos Burton, a worker for the Canterbury crew that later joins the cast in crewing their captured Martian frigate Rocinante seems like a simple creature at first glance. Initially introduced as a more or less guard dog for the character Naomi Nagata; he's mainly there as a threat deterrent, a task he's very proficient at. He has the necessary traits: he's big, he's strong, he's quiet, and most of all, he excels at violence. When given the slightest inkling that harming someone may be the clearest path to success, he brutalizes the quandary at hand until either he's been restrained or it ceases to be a problem. The issue with this appraisal is that while he certainly fits this spectrum, he reaches so much more. We are told, in indirect but blatant subtext that Amos spent time as a prostitute, obviously unwilling and without consent when he was a small boy. The story mentions that after the Johns seeking younger victims tired of him, he eventually became a security personnel. In this one section of his life, we can see PTSD, rage, and endless mistrust of people begin to form. It is only once he joins the crew of the Canterbury, but especially the Rocinante that he truly begins to blaze a trail towards what he considers normal. There is a casual nihilism in Amos, an overwhelming sense of being shattered beyond repair. He rarely expresses anything but confused bemusement or violent fury, similar to the survival instincts he honed as he was being victimized, and to the interpersonal skills he never developed by being virtually alone as a young, traumatized child for years. He is built into a calamity almost as thoroughly as a bomb is designed for maximum casualties. Amos is a walking disaster, often best suited by clearing the area and pointing him in the appropriate direction in the vein of “Front toward enemy” and violence end the situation.

The character of Amos audience can see why he's strong, as he's built like a brick shit-house. As for his formidable presence, he tends to loom over anything he's interested in and unnerve those persons included. We're told his time in Baltimore as a child prostitute fostered a strong drive to have constant control over his situation, never with submission. This is the foundation of his character that we see in the show. He is a mountain of trauma, abuse, and self-preservation when we first see him, and it's no surprise why. His early years have been less of a childhood and more of a nightmarish gauntlet that he's only just been able to survive. We learn why he's so quiet and why he's so violent; they're survival skills. Amos generally refuses to say much of anything to people he doesn't know and trust, and if he does speak it's usually blunt, brusque, and foreboding. The story tells us that he grew up destitute, dreaming of escaping the hell of Baltimore and the constant demands of Johns and then acting as an enforcer when he was too old to satisfy those other clients. He has been used all his life, largely up until he joins the Canterbury. The stigma and damage is so extreme and so far reaching that it asserts itself in his personality. He simply doesn't know how to function any other way. Point of fact in the later seasons, he makes remarks on fortunate folk not appreciating what they have, or not understanding that his strength was bought with the price of his soul. Amos, whether reconstructing a mechanism or beating 31 flavors of hell into someone, is constantly looking to his companions, initially Naomi, to understand whether or not he's doing the right thing. Only after a prolonged period with the rest of the Rocinantes crew does he develop a sense of camaraderie, loyalty, and most importantly, reliability. This is the first time Amos becomes genuinely happy with his position and his life. Initially, the only person able to break through that wall is Naomi, simply because she doesn't mind his demeanor and treats him as a person. In fact, they become deeply close friends, describing their relationship as that of siblings. When she and Holden become a romantic item, he is happy for them instead of delivering the cliché “If you hurt her, I'll kill you” line, and the reason is simple: Holden has earned his respect and trust. By this point in the series, James Holden has repeatedly demonstrated that Amos is important to him as a crew-mate and a friend, ensuring his safety, treating him fairly, and fighting alongside him in combat. They have literally saved each other's lives multiple times, cheating death at every disaster they are dragged into.

Amos isn't a people person. He was constructed from a history that restricts him from being close to another person. The only true, lasting relationships he has are those who have demonstrated loyalty and reliability to him. His romantic relationships, reflecting his nature, are almost always in brothels or one night stands, allowing him to avoid getting attached. He is quiet and brusque because, in his experience, words will generally get you nothing. He is violent and relentless because, in his experience, brutality will get you everything. This forced strength and fury constitutes his general outlook on the universe. He was unwillingly made into a hammer, and so his world is only nails. With time, however, this trust, love, and respect has finally turned him from a brute into a slowly developing person. His fate is uncertain until the final season is released, but it's clear he's making great strides in his journey to normal.

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About the Creator

Tom McDermott

I'm an Army vet, a former customer service worker, a student, and a DM. I'm always on the lookout to improve my writing skills and grow as a writer.

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