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Jansie
Sophie’s father, who is not named, is the story’s antagonist. He works in some kind of manual labor, returning home each night dirty and sweaty and shoveling food into his mouth. He treats Sophie with disdain, chastising her for telling “wild stories” and dismissing her ambitions and desires. Through the reactions of his children (who all seem scared of him), the reader learns that he is an imposing figure with a drinking problem and a temper. Barton describes him in a rather unfavorable way, using words such as “grimy” and pointing out the fat rolls on his neck.
Sophie’s Father Quotes in Going Places
The Going Places quotes below are all either spoken by Sophie’s Father or refer to Sophie’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Going Places
Quotes
Their mother sighed.
Sophie watched her back stooped over the sink and wondered at the incongruity of the delicate bow which fastened her apron strings. The delicate-seeming bow and the crooked back. The evening had already blacked in the windows and the small room was steamy from the stove and cluttered with the heavy-breathing man in his vest at the table and the dirty washing piled up in the corner. Sophie felt a tightening in her throat.
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Her father grimaced. “Where’d you hear that?”…He muttered something inaudible and dragged himself round in his chair. “This another of your wild stories?”… “One of these days you’re going to talk yourself into a load of trouble,” her father said aggressively.
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There was a wooden bench beneath a solitary elm where lovers sometimes came. She sat down to wait. It was the perfect place, she had always thought so, for a meeting of this kind. For those who wished not to be observed. She knew he would approve.
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Sophie’s Father Quotes in Going Places
The Going Places quotes below are all either spoken by Sophie’s Father or refer to Sophie’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Going Places
Quotes
Their mother sighed.
Sophie watched her back stooped over the sink and wondered at the incongruity of the delicate bow which fastened her apron strings. The delicate-seeming bow and the crooked back. The evening had already blacked in the windows and the small room was steamy from the stove and cluttered with the heavy-breathing man in his vest at the table and the dirty washing piled up in the corner. Sophie felt a tightening in her throat.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Her father grimaced. “Where’d you hear that?”…He muttered something inaudible and dragged himself round in his chair. “This another of your wild stories?”… “One of these days you’re going to talk yourself into a load of trouble,” her father said aggressively.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
There was a wooden bench beneath a solitary elm where lovers sometimes came. She sat down to wait. It was the perfect place, she had always thought so, for a meeting of this kind. For those who wished not to be observed. She knew he would approve.
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