James is Ida Mae and George Gladney’s third child and eldest son. At age three, he migrates north with his parents and his sister Velma. And as an adult, he works as a bus driver and lives downstairs from Ida Mae along with his wife and their four children. Like his mother, he’s honest, responsible, and active in his community. At the very end of the book, he becomes a grandfather.
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James Gladney Character Timeline in The Warmth of Other Suns
The timeline below shows where the character James Gladney appears in The Warmth of Other Suns. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part One: Leaving
...a train or left the county before, and her young children, six-year-old Velma and three-year-old James, don’t understand what’s happening. Ida Mae’s mother, Miss Theenie, didn’t want her to leave, like...
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Part Two: A Burdensome Labor
...dies after eating plums from a tree. Finally, in 1935, Ida Mae has a son, James. When James starts to have seizures as a toddler, a neighbor advises Ida Mae to...
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Part Three: The Appointed Time of Their Coming
On the Illinois Central Railroad, October 1937. In the night, Ida Mae, George, James, and Velma head northwest to Jackson, Tennessee, where they switch trains and board the famous...
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Part Five: Losses
...treatment. Ida Mae goes to Milwaukee for Irene’s surgery, but when she returns, her son James informs her that George had a heart attack and died. Ida Mae feels terrible for...
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Part Five: The Emancipation of Ida Mae
...Even though she has lost many loved ones, she’s lucky to live with her son James, her daughter Eleanor, and her grandson.
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