George Starling’s Father Character Analysis in The Warmth of Other Suns

George Starling’s father is a troubled Florida sharecropper and construction worker who frequently clashes with his son. He drinks and beats George’s mother before their divorce, and later, he discourages George from going to college because he doesn’t see any value in it. However, his neighbors convince him to save up for George’s education—until George suddenly marries his girlfriend Inez just to spite him. George regrets this decision for the rest of his life, and even though he hopes that moving to New York will offer his children a better future, his relationship with them ultimately falls into the same tumultuous pattern as his relationship with his own father.

George Starling’s Father Character Timeline in The Warmth of Other Suns

The timeline below shows where the character George Starling’s Father appears in The Warmth of Other Suns. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

George’s parents leave, too: they move to St. Petersburg, where his father works in construction. But during the Great Depression, his father starts drinking and beating his... (full context)

Decision, Consequence, and Regret Theme Icon

...graduates high school as valedictorian and then goes to study at Florida A&M University. But his father orders him to drop out after two years and start working, as he claims that... (full context)

George suddenly marries his girlfriend, Inez Cunningham, whom his father hates because she grew up in the backwoods. Then, he spends the summer working in... (full context)

...tells George, who realizes that he has to leave Florida. George explains the news to his father . (full context)

...do. He can join his brother Madison in Monroe, but his mother is dead and his father is a pariah, having been pushed out of his job. He can join Alice’s family... (full context)

Monroe, Louisiana, Early 1970s. Robert Foster’s whole family has left Monroe. Even though his father educated every Black student in town for three decades, their family name is barely relevant... (full context)