Whitey Character Analysis in The Round House

Whitey is Joe’s uncle and the owner of the reservation’s gas station. Whitey lives with Sonja, an ex-stripper who most people think is his wife even though they are not married. Whitey gives Joe a job at the gas station during the summer. Whitey is a jokester and a loving uncle whom Joe adores until one day he sees Whitey beat Sonja because he thinks she’s cheating on him. Joe, horrified by his uncle’s actions, tries to reconcile the uncle he loves with Whitey’s capacity for violence.

Whitey Quotes in The Round House

The The Round House quotes below are all either spoken by Whitey or refer to Whitey. 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:

Women, Bigotry, and Sexual Violence Theme Icon

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Harper Perennial edition of The Round House published in 2013.

I won’t touch her, see? Even though some prick she's stringing along bought her diamond earrings. I won’t touch her. But she is dirty. His eyes rolled toward her, red with weeping now. Dirty. Someone else, Joe.

Related Characters: (speaker), ,

Page Number and Citation: 175

Explanation and Analysis:

Whitey Character Timeline in The Round House

The timeline below shows where the character Whitey appears in The Round House. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Parenthood, Foster Families, and Coming of Age Theme Icon

...about the idea of going to the grocery store, so Joe offers to bike to Whitey’s gas station and buy more milk. Geraldine, relieved, gives Joe money, slurring as she speaks... (full context)

Joe rides his bike to his uncle Whitey’s gas station, where Sonja, Whitey’s wife, is working behind the counter. Sonja looks up from... (full context)

...cook dinner. Joe goes to get a pie from Clemence for dessert. At Clemence’s house, Whitey, Mooshum, and Clemence are sitting around drinking iced tea. Clemence, who is caring for Mooshum... (full context)

...return to discussing the rape, but quickly stop when they remember Joe’s presence. Mooshum asks Whitey to tell him about “Red Sonja,” referring to Sonja’s old stripping persona, which clearly turns... (full context)

Storytelling, Formality, and Writing Theme Icon

...had tried to do, they organized a boycott of the Lark gas station and helped Whitey open his own, putting the Larks out of business. Linden Lark returned home around that... (full context)

...Bazil and tells him that she is taking Joe on errands. They say goodbye to Whitey, who is pumping gas, and drive to Sonja and Whitey’s house. Joe follows Sonja into... (full context)

...to watch out for Linden, and Sonja tells him she likes using Linden to make Whitey jealous because Whitey thinks he owns her. (full context)

Land, the Judicial System, and Justice Theme Icon

...is going to the hospital tomorrow to see Geraldine, and so Joe should stay with Whitey and Sonja. (full context)

After Joe works at the gas station the next day, Whitey and Sonja take Joe and Pearl home with them. As they drive home, Joe asks... (full context)

During one of the days that Joe is staying with Sonja and Whitey, Whitey notices at breakfast that Sonja is wearing earrings that he has never seen before.... (full context)

Chippewa Tradition vs. Catholicism Theme Icon

Angry, Joe wants to quit, but he must stay because Whitey is gone. Whitey returns at eleven, smelling like beer. Sonja makes sandwiches at lunchtime and... (full context)

...walking inside the store to ring Larose up for her purchases. Outside, Joe sees that Whitey has wandered off to the nearby bar, so Joe starts to fix Larose’s tire in... (full context)

When the day is over, Sonja, Whitey, and Joe all get in the car and head back to the house. Everything seems... (full context)

...tells Clemence that he quit his job at the station. Clemence realizes that Sonja and Whitey are fighting again. Joe helps Clemence with chores. After dinner, Joe goes into the sewing... (full context)

...uncle. Grandma Ignatia names the son, who Joe only ever knew as a friend of Whitey’s. Joe remarks that this story always surprises white people but that other Native people have... (full context)

...out a mug shot of Linden Lark. Joe tells Bazil that he saw Linden at Whitey’s before he was taken into custody. (full context)

...angry, and Joe tells Sonja that if she doesn’t let him stay, he will tell Whitey about the money they hid. Sonja is shocked and then becomes extremely sad. She asks... (full context)

...up and took drugs. Sonja says that she got stuck in stripping, and then when Whitey fell in love with her, she knew he would never marry her because she was... (full context)

...down the dirt road with Father Travis in hot pursuit. Father Travis chases Cappy around Whitey’s gas station, the grocery store, through the graveyard, and back to the church playground. Cappy... (full context)

...finishes his story, he changes the subject to Sonja. Clemence tells Joe that Sonja left Whitey yesterday while he was at the gas station, with a note that said she would... (full context)

...calls Joe and tells him that some of his family (Joe presumes Doe, Randall, and Whitey) “paid a visit” to Linden and “messed him up good.” Geraldine comes back, and then... (full context)

The boys, wanting to get drunk, decide to meet at Whitey’s gas station after Cappy drops the car off. After Cappy drives away, Joe walks to... (full context)

When Joe comes back, he says that he has the summer flu. Whitey continues to talk about Linden’s murder, saying that there is no evidence because of the... (full context)

As the boys head out back, Cappy asks Joe if Whitey knows they killed Linden. Joe says that he thinks so, since he threw up after... (full context)

When Joe and Cappy wake up, Whitey tells them to eat another sandwich and to touch the whiskey bottle again. He also... (full context)

During the next week, Joe actually does contract the flu. During the police investigation, Whitey attests to Joe and Cappy’s presence at the gas station on the morning of the... (full context)