The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace

by

Jeffrey Hobbs

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Robert “Skeet” Douglas Character Analysis

Skeet is the father of Robert Peace, and one of the most ambiguous characters in the entire book. A brilliant, fast-talking man, Skeet is clearly a role model for the young Robert, and clearly he loves Robert deeply. But when Robert is still a young child, Skeet is arrested and convicted of a double homicide. Hobbs never gives his own opinion about this crime—he never says with certainty that Skeet is innocent or guilty (although he does note the corruption and racism of the Newark police force). What’s certain is that Skeet’s absence (he spends the rest of his life in jail) hurts Robert, and leaves him lonely, frightened, and angry—both with the world and with himself.

Robert “Skeet” Douglas Quotes in The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace

The The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace quotes below are all either spoken by Robert “Skeet” Douglas or refer to Robert “Skeet” Douglas. 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:
“Fronting” Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

As he did so, his confidence grew that not only would this evidence lead to a conviction, but also that a conviction would represent justice in the world. In other words, the defendant was guilty. He did not overlook the many loose ends presented within the story: the single witness who had been inebriated, strung out, severely overtired, and hungover at the time of the murders, and who had identified a suspect, by voice only, whom she had encountered once in her life and never spoken to directly; the very odd time lapse between when the murder was said to have taken place—seven thirty—and when Georgianna's roommate had first called the police two hours later …

Related Characters: Jeff Hobbs (speaker), Robert “Skeet” Douglas, Thomas Lechliter, Georgianna Broadway
Page Number: 39
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

But still she saw the anger in him, a gradually thickening shade just behind the sometimes impenetrable veil of his eyes. She knew that any anger could be dangerous, and that this particular variety, seeded so deeply during Skeet's three years in jail awaiting trial—nearly a third of her son's life by the time it was finished—was especially destructive.

Related Characters: Jeff Hobbs (speaker), Robert DeShaun Peace, Jackie Peace, Robert “Skeet” Douglas
Page Number: 58
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

As Coach Ridley learned that early winter morning of 1998, Rob Peace was one of those students. All the anger Rob felt—at his father's imprisonment, his mother's weariness, his own poverty that tasted like ketchup packets—only seemed to fuel his merits as a scholar and leader, and hide itself behind those ever-rising attributes.

Related Characters: Jeff Hobbs (speaker), Robert DeShaun Peace, Jackie Peace, Robert “Skeet” Douglas, Coach Wayne Ridley
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

Her son made sense with numbers. He always had. And now he was thirty years old, taking her through the tiers of retirement benefits. She wished that these calculations hadn't always been so challenging, not in terms of the math but its implications. She knew that he wished the same thing. But she didn't fix any anger, as her son did, to that wish. She'd entertained many such wishes during the course of her life and had long since accepted the reality that very few of them would come true. She'd wished that Skeet had been innocent. She'd wished for jackpots with each crank of an Atlantic City slot machine.

Related Characters: Jeff Hobbs (speaker), Robert DeShaun Peace, Jackie Peace, Robert “Skeet” Douglas
Page Number: 367
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace PDF

Robert “Skeet” Douglas Quotes in The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace

The The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace quotes below are all either spoken by Robert “Skeet” Douglas or refer to Robert “Skeet” Douglas. 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:
“Fronting” Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

As he did so, his confidence grew that not only would this evidence lead to a conviction, but also that a conviction would represent justice in the world. In other words, the defendant was guilty. He did not overlook the many loose ends presented within the story: the single witness who had been inebriated, strung out, severely overtired, and hungover at the time of the murders, and who had identified a suspect, by voice only, whom she had encountered once in her life and never spoken to directly; the very odd time lapse between when the murder was said to have taken place—seven thirty—and when Georgianna's roommate had first called the police two hours later …

Related Characters: Jeff Hobbs (speaker), Robert “Skeet” Douglas, Thomas Lechliter, Georgianna Broadway
Page Number: 39
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

But still she saw the anger in him, a gradually thickening shade just behind the sometimes impenetrable veil of his eyes. She knew that any anger could be dangerous, and that this particular variety, seeded so deeply during Skeet's three years in jail awaiting trial—nearly a third of her son's life by the time it was finished—was especially destructive.

Related Characters: Jeff Hobbs (speaker), Robert DeShaun Peace, Jackie Peace, Robert “Skeet” Douglas
Page Number: 58
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

As Coach Ridley learned that early winter morning of 1998, Rob Peace was one of those students. All the anger Rob felt—at his father's imprisonment, his mother's weariness, his own poverty that tasted like ketchup packets—only seemed to fuel his merits as a scholar and leader, and hide itself behind those ever-rising attributes.

Related Characters: Jeff Hobbs (speaker), Robert DeShaun Peace, Jackie Peace, Robert “Skeet” Douglas, Coach Wayne Ridley
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

Her son made sense with numbers. He always had. And now he was thirty years old, taking her through the tiers of retirement benefits. She wished that these calculations hadn't always been so challenging, not in terms of the math but its implications. She knew that he wished the same thing. But she didn't fix any anger, as her son did, to that wish. She'd entertained many such wishes during the course of her life and had long since accepted the reality that very few of them would come true. She'd wished that Skeet had been innocent. She'd wished for jackpots with each crank of an Atlantic City slot machine.

Related Characters: Jeff Hobbs (speaker), Robert DeShaun Peace, Jackie Peace, Robert “Skeet” Douglas
Page Number: 367
Explanation and Analysis: