Though not a member of any white supremacist group, Turk's mother is nonetheless a racist and hateful woman: she spits on the black man who she believed killed her eldest son, Tanner. Following his death and the split with her husband, Turk's father, she turns to alcohol, loses her job, and moves into Gramps's house with Turk. She dies of liver failure when Turk is in his early twenties.
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Turk's Mother Character Timeline in Small Great Things
The timeline below shows where the character Turk's Mother appears in Small Great Things. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3, Turk
...driver's license, and the jury couldn't reach a decision, so the black man went free. Turk's mother shrieked and when the man offered condolences, she spit on him.
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...again, Turk says that everything fell apart after Tanner died. Turk's father moved out and Turk's mother turned to alcohol. Not long after she lost her job, they moved in with Gramps....
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A few years after Turk got involved in the White Power Movement, Turk's mother died. While going through her things, he found the transcripts from Tanner's trial. He read...
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