Francis Mitchum Character Analysis in Small Great Things

Brit's father, a former skinhead and a prominent figure in the white power movement. He raised Brit by himself after his girlfriend, Adele, cheated on him with a black man and, as he tells it, abandoned Brit. Around the time that Turk met Francis, the government was starting to crack down on overt white supremacy and Francis understood that the only way forward was to move online. He and Turk started the website lonewolf.org, a site that offers white supremacists an anonymous place to band together. Francis is a guiding force in Turk's life and a voice of reason throughout the trial. However, on the final day of trial, Wallace Mercy confronts Francis, Turk, and Brit with Adele, who is revealed to be black. Later, Francis confides in Turk that he and Adele were madly in love, but he was jealous and afraid of losing her. After beating her, she ran to her black choir director and Francis was picked up by Tom Metzger, a leader in the white supremacist movement. Following this revelation, both Francis and Turk are beaten and kicked out of the movement.

Francis Mitchum Character Timeline in Small Great Things

The timeline below shows where the character Francis Mitchum appears in Small Great Things. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Racism: Hate, Fear, and Grief Theme Icon

...insisted that killing a black person is the equivalent of shooting game. The man was Francis Mitchum, one of the most powerful men in the movement. (full context)

Turk and Francis Mitchum, his father-in-law, dismantle the nursery. Francis pulls down the curtains and repaints the walls... (full context)

...He got it when he was 21, right after Brit agreed to marry him, and Francis called him stupid for it. When Turk walks back into the nursery, Francis softly says... (full context)

That evening, Turk and Francis go to pick up Brit from the hospital. Brit recoils before getting in the car,... (full context)

The Justice System and the Politics of Speech Theme Icon

The next day, Turk puts on the suit he shares with Francis in preparation for his meeting with Carla Luongo, the risk management lawyer at the hospital.... (full context)

In the present, Francis watches Turk kick through the front window of the duplex. Turk insists the window was... (full context)

A few weeks after Turk's fight with the bikers, he got a handwritten note from Francis asking him to come meet him in New Haven. Turk drove to a house in... (full context)

Francis and Turk walked through the backyard, where Francis admitted that he likes talking to young... (full context)

...spits that this would all be over if Turk would act like a real man. Francis ushers Brit upstairs while Turk grabs car keys and drives. He considers finding Ruth's house,... (full context)

Stepping back in time again, Turk says that he didn't believe Francis that the new wave of white supremacy would be fought on the internet. Francis, however,... (full context)

...spends every night listening to Davis's ghost cry. One night, Turk gets up to drink. Francis lets himself in, throws a laptop at Turk, and tells him to get even. Turk... (full context)

On the night that Turk took Brit out, they had dinner with Francis first. Brit talked about hitting a black man with her car and told Francis that... (full context)

Outside, Turk notices media vans. He calls Francis and tells him to get Brit up and make her watch Channel Four. Turk puts... (full context)

...the ones that gave suggestions for how individuals could stir up unrest without being violent. Francis and Turk tried a number of them, including slipping flyers about how the Holocaust was... (full context)

One night, Francis asked Turk when he was going to marry Brit. It took him a while, but... (full context)

Three months after Davis's funeral, Francis tells Turk to post an invitation on LONEWOLF for people to come to the house... (full context)

The next evening, Turk, Brit, and Francis are watching the news while Turk posts on LONEWOLF. After Francis goes to bed, Brit... (full context)

...on his knuckles. At sunset, Turk and Brit walked down a makeshift aisle together, and Francis married them. Turk felt like he and Brit were the only people on earth. (full context)

...Brit met when she gave birth to Brit. Brit throws herself at the woman and Francis yells for them to stop. His face looks ashen as he greets Adele. (full context)

...tries to touch Brit and then lies that Brit is her daughter. He looks to Francis, who says only the name of Brit's mother, Adele. Turk tells the reader that he... (full context)

Brit runs off, and though Francis tries to get the LONEWOLF members to help look for her, they disappear. Turk doesn't... (full context)

After that, Francis started leaving Brit in the car while he got drunk at bars, and that's where... (full context)

Turk breaks into the graveyard and he and Francis approach Davis's grave. They find Brit there, brandishing her penknife. Francis shines his flashlight at... (full context)

...suicide. He tells them about how white supremacists came at night and beat him and Francis, and how he shut down lonewolf.org the next day. He was filing for divorce when... (full context)