Papa

George, husband of Grandpa's daughter, Sarah, and father of Georgie, owns a livery stable; he is a hardworking man with a skeptical outlook and a clear understanding of his wife's family dynamics. He also has a contemptuous understanding of his brother-in-law, Rodney: "Yes," he said, "it certainly wasn't Uncle Rodney's fault, he never knew a man to try harder to get money than Uncle Rodney did, that Uncle Rodney had tried every known plan to get it except work" (267). When Aunt Louisa mentions Rodney's lack of opportunities "to meet a nice girl and marry her," George says: "Marry? Rodney marry? What in hell pleasure would he get out of slipping out of his own house and waiting until after dark and slipping around to the back and climbing up the gutter and into a room where there wasn't anybody in it but his own wife" (274). George, nevertheless, makes consistent efforts to help his wife's family avoid scandal and has covered Rodney's debts on at least one occasion.