Adele Character Analysis in Small Great Things

Adele, a middle-aged black woman, appears with Wallace Mercy on the final day of trial and reveals that she is Brit's mother. Francis later explains that he and Adele were young and in love when they had Brit, but Francis's jealousy drove Adele to begin a relationship with her black choral director at church. After Francis beat her, she left him and Brit.

Adele Quotes in Small Great Things

The Small Great Things quotes below are all either spoken by Adele or refer to Adele . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Racism: Hate, Fear, and Grief Theme Icon

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Random House edition of Small Great Things published in 2016.

My head actually aches from holding three incompatible truths in it: 1. Black people are inferior. 2. Brit is half black. 3. I love Brit with all my heart.

Shouldn't numbers one and two make number three impossible? Or is she the exception to the rule? Was Adele one, too?

I think of me and Twinkie dreaming of the food we craved behind bars.

How many exceptions do there have to be before you start to realize that maybe the truths you've been told aren't actually true?

Related Characters: (speaker), , ,

Page Number and Citation: 443

Explanation and Analysis:

Adele Character Timeline in Small Great Things

The timeline below shows where the character Adele appears in Small Great Things. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...which is how the rumors of him fighting alone started. Brit admitted that her mother, Adele, left Francis for a black man. Turk drove them to a hot dog stand popular... (full context)

...woman and Francis yells for them to stop. His face looks ashen as he greets Adele. (full context)

...is her daughter. He looks to Francis, who says only the name of Brit's mother, Adele. Turk tells the reader that he knows little about Adele, just that she cheated on... (full context)

...wants to find Brit. As they drive around, Francis tells his story. His relationship with Adele was perfect and she got pregnant quickly. After Brit was born, Francis got scared that... (full context)

...up and gave him a pamphlet when he heard Francis's story. Francis never mentioned that Adele was black, and he found that it was easier to hate black people than hate... (full context)

The Justice System and the Politics of Speech Theme Icon

...in the hospital and Turk hasn't been back to court. Right after the debacle with Adele and Mercy, Ruth asked Kennedy what happened. Kennedy explains that she noticed Davis tested positive... (full context)