An American Marriage

by

Tayari Jones

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on An American Marriage makes teaching easy.

Mr. Fontenot Character Analysis

Roy’s high school French teacher who wanted to help him travel to France, giving him James Baldwin books and a journal to record his goals. When it became suspected that Mr. Fontenot was gay, Roy’s parents forbade Roy from working with him. It is later revealed that Mr. Fontenot died in the 1990s from what is assumed to have been AIDS.
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Mr. Fontenot Character Timeline in An American Marriage

The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Fontenot appears in An American Marriage. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 2, Chapter 7
Parenthood as a Choice Theme Icon
Appearances vs. Reality Theme Icon
Race and Class Theme Icon
...old. Looking out the window at the house next door, Roy recalls his French teacher, Mr. Fontenot , who once lived there and with whom Roy grew close. He promised to help... (full context)
Part 2, Chapter 9
Parenthood as a Choice Theme Icon
Appearances vs. Reality Theme Icon
The Effects of Incarceration Theme Icon
Race and Class Theme Icon
...him to Atlanta. On the bottom of the stack of papers, he finds the journal Mr. Fontenot had given him, on the last page of which he’d written, “Dear History, The world... (full context)