This Is How It Always Is

This Is How It Always Is

by

Laurie Frankel

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Nick Calcutti Character Analysis

Cindy’s husband and Nicky’s father. When Cindy invites Poppy over to play with Nicky, Nick calls Poppy a “faggot” and threatens her with a gun. He says that Poppy is not welcome in his home or near his son, and he threatens Rosie and Penn with a gun, too. Nick Calcutti represents the extreme hate and violence leveled against the LGBTQ community in American society. Poppy is just a six years old when Nick threatens her, but he is so angered by Poppy’s gender, the fact that she is a child makes little difference.

Nick Calcutti Quotes in This Is How It Always Is

The This Is How It Always Is quotes below are all either spoken by Nick Calcutti or refer to Nick Calcutti. 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:
Gender and Binaries  Theme Icon
).
Part I: Push Quotes

“Did you threaten him?” said Penn.

“Who?”

“Poppy.”

“Ain’t a him, friend.”

“Did you threaten our child?” Rosie did not want to get diverted into semantics and pronoun battles. There was something more at stake here.

“I told him we don't play with faggots, we don't play with girls, we don't play with boys dressed as girls, and he was no longer welcome in our home or anywhere near my kid—not at the park, not at school, not on the playground, nowhere.”

Related Characters: Rosie (speaker), Penn (speaker), Nick Calcutti (speaker), Claude/Poppy, Nicky Calcutti
Page Number: 101-102
Explanation and Analysis:
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Nick Calcutti Quotes in This Is How It Always Is

The This Is How It Always Is quotes below are all either spoken by Nick Calcutti or refer to Nick Calcutti. 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:
Gender and Binaries  Theme Icon
).
Part I: Push Quotes

“Did you threaten him?” said Penn.

“Who?”

“Poppy.”

“Ain’t a him, friend.”

“Did you threaten our child?” Rosie did not want to get diverted into semantics and pronoun battles. There was something more at stake here.

“I told him we don't play with faggots, we don't play with girls, we don't play with boys dressed as girls, and he was no longer welcome in our home or anywhere near my kid—not at the park, not at school, not on the playground, nowhere.”

Related Characters: Rosie (speaker), Penn (speaker), Nick Calcutti (speaker), Claude/Poppy, Nicky Calcutti
Page Number: 101-102
Explanation and Analysis: