Dad Character Analysis

Jade’s dad. Jade sees that while her birth condemned Mom to a life of poverty, it helped give Dad the kick he needed to get his life together, albeit through questionable means: he began dating a white woman when Jade was a little girl (and while he was still dating Mom), and he’s now engaged to her. His fiancée never appears in person in the novel, and Jade never gives her name, but Jade likes her and she doesn’t seem to hold Dad’s questionable behavior against him. Dad insists that Jade is his queen but he sometimes struggles to follow through on his promises, such as when he fails to show up for her birthday. Because of this, E.J. hates Dad, and Mom never speaks well of him either. In E.J.’s opinion, Dad is doing the bare minimum—and for that matter, he’s inappropriately taking advantage of his college-educated, professional fiancée, whom he’s been engaged to for three years. In E.J.’s understanding, this means that Dad has no intention of following through and marrying her. The one time that Jade visits Dad in the novel, Dad seems caring but somewhat disaffected and forgetful. He is a thoughtful gift-giver, however: he gives Jade a digital camera and a printer for her birthday so that she can use her own photos in her collages.