Inez Cunningham Character Analysis in The Warmth of Other Suns

Inez is George Starling’s wife and Sonya and Gerard Starling’s mother. Her parents die when she is young, and she grows up with her religious fanatic aunt in the backwoods near George’s hometown of Eustis, Florida. Since Black people from the backwoods are even poorer than Black people who live in town, George’s father doesn’t approve of his son dating Inez when they’re teenagers. When George comes home from college for spring break in 1939, he impulsively drives Inez to the nearest courthouse and asks her to marry him. She’s shocked, but she agrees. Their marriage is troubled from the start: Inez is always angry about George working long hours and spending long periods of time away from home. He saves up to send Inez to beauty school and even help her start a salon, but after moving to New York, she decides to become a nurse instead. As she ages, she grows more isolated and bitter—both of her children make terrible life choices and move back to Florida, while George has a daughter with another woman. She even kicks her niece Pat out of the house after her sister dies. Inez dies of cancer in 1978, and George forever regrets his decision to marry her.

Inez Cunningham Character Timeline in The Warmth of Other Suns

The timeline below shows where the character Inez Cunningham appears in The Warmth of Other Suns. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...the town’s powerful white citrus growers, so he’s fleeing to New York. He hopes that Inez, his wife, will eventually join him. (full context)

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

...of factory jobs up in Detroit, where he’d earn several times what he’s making now. Inez wants to quit her job as a maid and go to beauty school in Tampa,... (full context)

...a significant raise—from 15 cents per box of oranges to 22 cents. With their savings, Inez goes to beauty school, and George and Inez rent a house of their own and... (full context)

History, Memory, and Identity Theme Icon

Eustis, Florida, April 1945. George Starling tells Inez that his life is in danger and he has to leave Florida. He packs up... (full context)

New York, Summer 1945. George brings Inez to New York with him and offers to rent her a beauty shop for her... (full context)

New York, January 1947. George and Inez finally have a child. Meanwhile, George sees the Great Migration firsthand at his job on... (full context)

New York, 1957. Even though George and Inez’s marriage is always rocky, they enjoy hosting visitors from Eustis, have another daughter in 1954,... (full context)

New York, Late Summer 1967. George and Inez send their 13-year-old daughter, Sonya, to spend the summer in Eustis, and to their horror,... (full context)

...never resentment. He knows that his great mistake was dropping out of college to marry Inez and work in the citrus groves. And he wonders how his life would have been... (full context)

New York, 1978. Inez lives in a world of heartbreak: she has few friends, her son Gerard struggles with... (full context)

New York, 1978. After Inez’s death, George Starling becomes another old Southern man imparting wisdom to the local Harlem youngsters.... (full context)