Paradise

by

Toni Morrison

Coffee (K.D.) Smith Character Analysis

Coffee Smith, nicknamed “Kentucky Derby” (K.D.) for winning a horse race, is the nephew of Steward and Deek and the son of Ruby Morgan. He is the last surviving Morgan heir, which places pressure on him but also allows him tremendous privilege, as his uncles will smooth over any trouble K.D. gets himself into. As a teenager, he has a relationship with Arnette Fleetwood, impregnating her. He quickly loses interest in Arnette and instead pursues Gigi. He and Gigi have a brief relationship, but after she ultimately rejects him, K.D. marries Arnette. He joins his uncles on their attack of the Convent, partly prompted by his resentment of Gigi and his belief that the Convent women hurt Arnette.

Coffee (K.D.) Smith Quotes in Paradise

The Paradise quotes below are all either spoken by Coffee (K.D.) Smith or refer to Coffee (K.D.) Smith. 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:
Gender, Race, and Power Theme Icon
).
Grace Quotes

However disgusted both were, K.D. knew they would not negotiate a solution that would endanger him or the future of Morgan money. His grandfather had named his twins Deacon and Steward for a reason. And their family had not built two towns, fought white law, Colored Creek, bandits and bad weather, to see ranches and houses and a bank with mortgages on a feed store, a drugstore and a furniture store to end up in Arnold Fleetwood’s pocket. Since the loose bones of his cousins had been buried two years ago, K.D., their hope and their despair, was the last male in [the] line […]. His behavior, as always, required scrutiny and serious correction.

Related Characters: Patricia (Pat) Best/Billie Delia’s Mother, Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover, Steward Morgan, Reverend Richard Misner, Coffee (K.D.) Smith, Arnette Fleetwood, Arnold Fleetwood
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:

It was the I-give woman serving up her breasts like two baked Alaskas on a platter that took all the kick out of looking in the boy’s eyes. Gigi watched him battle his stare and lose every time. He said his name was K.D. and tried hard to enjoy her face as much as her cleavage when he talked. It was a struggle she expected, rose to and took pleasure in––normally. But the picture she had wakened to an hour earlier spoiled it.

Related Characters: Grace (Gigi), Coffee (K.D.) Smith
Related Symbols: The Convent
Page Number: 73
Explanation and Analysis:
Seneca Quotes

[Steward] wondered if that generation––Misner’s and K.D.’s––would have to be sacrificed to get to the next one. The grand- and great-grandchildren who could be trained, honed as his own father and grandfather had down for Steward’s generation. No breaks there; no slack cut then. Expectations were high and met. Nobody took more responsibility for their behavior than those good men.

Related Characters: Steward Morgan, Reverend Richard Misner, Coffee (K.D.) Smith
Related Symbols: The Oven
Page Number: 94
Explanation and Analysis:
Divine Quotes

[…] Pulliam had just sprayed [poison] over everything[.] Over the heads of men finding it so hard to fight their instincts to control what they could and crunch what they could not; in the hearts of women tirelessly taming the predator; in the faces of children not yet recovered from the blow to their esteem upon learning that adults would not regard them as humans until they mated; of the bride and groom frozen there, desperate for this public bonding to dilute their private shame. Misner knew that Pulliam’s words were a widening of the war he had declared on Misner’s activities: tempting the youth to step outside the wall, outside the town limits, shepherding them, forcing them to transgress, to think of themselves as civil warriors.

Related Characters: Reverend Richard Misner, Coffee (K.D.) Smith, Arnette Fleetwood, Reverend Senior Pulliam
Related Symbols: The Convent
Page Number: 145
Explanation and Analysis:

[Arnette] believed she loved [K.D] absolutely because he was all she knew about her self––which was to say, everything she knew of her body was connected to him. Except for Billie Delia, no one had told her there was any other way to think of herself. Not her mother; not her sister-in-law.

Related Characters: Coffee (K.D.) Smith, Billie Delia Cato, Sweetie Fleetwood, Arnette Fleetwood, Mable Fleetwood
Page Number: 148
Explanation and Analysis:
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Coffee (K.D.) Smith Quotes in Paradise

The Paradise quotes below are all either spoken by Coffee (K.D.) Smith or refer to Coffee (K.D.) Smith. 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:
Gender, Race, and Power Theme Icon
).
Grace Quotes

However disgusted both were, K.D. knew they would not negotiate a solution that would endanger him or the future of Morgan money. His grandfather had named his twins Deacon and Steward for a reason. And their family had not built two towns, fought white law, Colored Creek, bandits and bad weather, to see ranches and houses and a bank with mortgages on a feed store, a drugstore and a furniture store to end up in Arnold Fleetwood’s pocket. Since the loose bones of his cousins had been buried two years ago, K.D., their hope and their despair, was the last male in [the] line […]. His behavior, as always, required scrutiny and serious correction.

Related Characters: Patricia (Pat) Best/Billie Delia’s Mother, Deacon (Deek) Morgan/Connie’s Lover, Steward Morgan, Reverend Richard Misner, Coffee (K.D.) Smith, Arnette Fleetwood, Arnold Fleetwood
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:

It was the I-give woman serving up her breasts like two baked Alaskas on a platter that took all the kick out of looking in the boy’s eyes. Gigi watched him battle his stare and lose every time. He said his name was K.D. and tried hard to enjoy her face as much as her cleavage when he talked. It was a struggle she expected, rose to and took pleasure in––normally. But the picture she had wakened to an hour earlier spoiled it.

Related Characters: Grace (Gigi), Coffee (K.D.) Smith
Related Symbols: The Convent
Page Number: 73
Explanation and Analysis:
Seneca Quotes

[Steward] wondered if that generation––Misner’s and K.D.’s––would have to be sacrificed to get to the next one. The grand- and great-grandchildren who could be trained, honed as his own father and grandfather had down for Steward’s generation. No breaks there; no slack cut then. Expectations were high and met. Nobody took more responsibility for their behavior than those good men.

Related Characters: Steward Morgan, Reverend Richard Misner, Coffee (K.D.) Smith
Related Symbols: The Oven
Page Number: 94
Explanation and Analysis:
Divine Quotes

[…] Pulliam had just sprayed [poison] over everything[.] Over the heads of men finding it so hard to fight their instincts to control what they could and crunch what they could not; in the hearts of women tirelessly taming the predator; in the faces of children not yet recovered from the blow to their esteem upon learning that adults would not regard them as humans until they mated; of the bride and groom frozen there, desperate for this public bonding to dilute their private shame. Misner knew that Pulliam’s words were a widening of the war he had declared on Misner’s activities: tempting the youth to step outside the wall, outside the town limits, shepherding them, forcing them to transgress, to think of themselves as civil warriors.

Related Characters: Reverend Richard Misner, Coffee (K.D.) Smith, Arnette Fleetwood, Reverend Senior Pulliam
Related Symbols: The Convent
Page Number: 145
Explanation and Analysis:

[Arnette] believed she loved [K.D] absolutely because he was all she knew about her self––which was to say, everything she knew of her body was connected to him. Except for Billie Delia, no one had told her there was any other way to think of herself. Not her mother; not her sister-in-law.

Related Characters: Coffee (K.D.) Smith, Billie Delia Cato, Sweetie Fleetwood, Arnette Fleetwood, Mable Fleetwood
Page Number: 148
Explanation and Analysis: