Son

by

Lois Lowry

Jeannette Character Analysis

One of Claire’s Fish Hatchery coworkers, Jeannette is surprised when, at the Ceremony, she learns her father is “gone” because the Committee of Elders gives his name to a newchild. This highlights the extremely fractured family structures in the community, as adult children like Jeannette don’t maintain relationships with their parents once they become teenagers and so aren’t informed directly when they die.

Jeannette Quotes in Son

The Son quotes below are all either spoken by Jeannette or refer to Jeannette. 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:
Pain and Maternal Love Theme Icon
).
Book 1, Chapter 9  Quotes

“Were there any surprising names?”

“Not really,” Jeannette said, “except I was startled to hear that one, a boy, was given the name Paul. That was my father’s name.”

“But they can’t use the same name twice!” Edith said. “There are never two people in the community with the same name!”

“But they do regive names,” Claire pointed out, “after someone is gone.”

“Right. So that means my father is gone. I was surprised to hear it,” Jeannette said.

“When did you see him last?” Claire asked. She could remember her own parents, but it had been several years, and details about them had begun to fade.

Jeannette thought, and shrugged. “Probably five years. He worked in Food Production, and I never go over that way. I saw the woman who was my mother now and then, though, because she’s in the landscaping crew.”

Related Characters: Claire (speaker), Jeannette (speaker), Edith (speaker)
Page Number: 73-74
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Son LitChart as a printable PDF.
Son PDF

Jeannette Quotes in Son

The Son quotes below are all either spoken by Jeannette or refer to Jeannette. 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:
Pain and Maternal Love Theme Icon
).
Book 1, Chapter 9  Quotes

“Were there any surprising names?”

“Not really,” Jeannette said, “except I was startled to hear that one, a boy, was given the name Paul. That was my father’s name.”

“But they can’t use the same name twice!” Edith said. “There are never two people in the community with the same name!”

“But they do regive names,” Claire pointed out, “after someone is gone.”

“Right. So that means my father is gone. I was surprised to hear it,” Jeannette said.

“When did you see him last?” Claire asked. She could remember her own parents, but it had been several years, and details about them had begun to fade.

Jeannette thought, and shrugged. “Probably five years. He worked in Food Production, and I never go over that way. I saw the woman who was my mother now and then, though, because she’s in the landscaping crew.”

Related Characters: Claire (speaker), Jeannette (speaker), Edith (speaker)
Page Number: 73-74
Explanation and Analysis: