The Overstory

The Overstory

by

Richard Powers

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Overstory makes teaching easy.

Bill Westerford Character Analysis

Bill Westerford is Patricia’s father. The two are extremely close growing up, and Bill passes on to Patricia his love of trees and all growing things. Bill works as an agricultural extension agent, and he takes Patricia with him as he visits various farms in Ohio. Bill is killed in a car accident when Patricia is a teenager.

Bill Westerford Quotes in The Overstory

The The Overstory quotes below are all either spoken by Bill Westerford or refer to Bill Westerford. 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:
Humans and Trees Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Roots—Patricia Westerford Quotes

Watching the man, hard-of-hearing, hard-of-speech Patty learns that real joy consists of knowing that human wisdom counts less than the shimmer of beeches in a breeze. As certain as weather coming from the west, the things people know for sure will change. There is no knowing for a fact. The only dependable things are humility and looking.

Related Characters: Dr. Patricia “Patty” Westerford, Bill Westerford
Page Number: 115
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Overstory PDF

Bill Westerford Quotes in The Overstory

The The Overstory quotes below are all either spoken by Bill Westerford or refer to Bill Westerford. 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:
Humans and Trees Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Roots—Patricia Westerford Quotes

Watching the man, hard-of-hearing, hard-of-speech Patty learns that real joy consists of knowing that human wisdom counts less than the shimmer of beeches in a breeze. As certain as weather coming from the west, the things people know for sure will change. There is no knowing for a fact. The only dependable things are humility and looking.

Related Characters: Dr. Patricia “Patty” Westerford, Bill Westerford
Page Number: 115
Explanation and Analysis: