Georgie

Georgie, the seven-year-old narrator of "That Will Be Fine," tells the essentially sordid and ultimately fatal story of his uncle Rodney from a perspective that emphasizes both the ignorance and self-centeredness of childhood. He never questions or recognizes Rodney's various forms of social and criminal misbehavior, and his loyalty to Rodney has its roots less in family love than in greed. His notions of Christmas focus narrowly on money: "I thought how maybe I could go on downtown when I got through working for Uncle Rodney and buy a present for Grandpa with a dime out of the ten quarters and give it to him tomorrow and maybe, because nobody else had given him a present, Grandpa might give me a quarter too instead of the dime tomorrow, and that would be twenty-one quarters, except for the dime, and that would be fine sure enough" (278). In the end, Georgie has learned nothing about his uncle, his family, or his own errors.