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Mary Treat
Nick Tavoularis is Iano’s elderly father who emigrated from Greece to the United States as a young man. He is Willa’s father-in-law and Zeke and Tig’s grandfather. Nick is foul-mouthed and often belligerent, and he frequently initiates political arguments with Willa. Nick admires the abrasive conservative politician known as the Bullhorn and insists on listening to the man’s hateful diatribes against minorities at loud volumes. Though Tig disagrees with nearly all of Nick’s beliefs, she perceives her grandfather as a hardworking man who is prone to bitterness whenever he feels he has been denied the success he’s earned. Nick’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge other perspectives on the world, combined with his rapidly declining health, characterize him as willfully ignorant but also pitiable, as his problematic perspective is nearing extinction.
Nick Tavoularis Quotes in Unsheltered
The Unsheltered quotes below are all either spoken by Nick Tavoularis or refer to Nick Tavoularis. 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:
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Chapter 3: Investigators Quotes
But two minimum wages weren’t noticeably better than one. She’d probably written lines like that in her better-paid journalist days, believing herself savvy to working-class woes. In some sheltered life she could barely see from this one. Ticking down the list, her father-in-law was a liability, not an asset. Stunningly, her Harvard-educated son fell into the same category. It made no sense but there it was. Zeke had mind-blowing debts and an infant in his care. If forced to leave this rent-free house, they would disperse to various refuges she could not make herself think about. And yet. How were they not just a normal family?
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It felt surreal, watching her family bicker about abstract catastrophe under an actual collapsing roof, but it was a relief to see her son animated again. Zeke embodied the contradiction of his generation: jaded about the fate of the world, idealistic about personal prospects. A house built on youth’s easy courage. And Tig in her way was also brave, dissecting the world as she saw it, believing her strategies mattered. In a world of people who either let things happen or made them happen, these kids were instigators. Willa felt obsolete. The need to shelter her family never lifted its weight from her shoulders, but in practical terms she was useful to no one there but the dog and the baby.
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Chapter 5: Striking Out Quotes
Zeke was more practical than his father about taking care of business. But unlike Iano, she just couldn’t see this jackpot as some normal next step. Different as they were in temperament, father and son shared an unrealistic faith in good financial fortune. They expected it. In Iano’s first-generation immigrant family, they might as well have had a cross-stitched sampler on the wall saying “God Bless Our Capitalist Home.” Something in his bones promised Iano he was going to get into the club, and he’d passed that on. Willa’s bones told her with equal conviction that the roof over their heads would not outlast the winter.
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Chapter 9: The Front of the Line Quotes
“There’s a lot of white folks out there hanging on to their God-given right to look down on some other class of people. They feel it slipping away and they’re scared.”
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“Really it’s just down to a handful of guys piling up everything they can grab and sitting on top of it. And a million poor jerks like Papu still hoping they can get into the club. How long can that last? Five or six more years?”
They both looked at Nick, who was sleeping quietly with his mouth open.
“So I can be nice to Papu. He’s basically over.”
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Get the entire Unsheltered LitChart as a printable PDF.
Nick Tavoularis Character Timeline in Unsheltered
The timeline below shows where the character Nick Tavoularis appears in Unsheltered. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: Falling House
...argues against demolition, saying her family lives there, including her daughter (Tig) and disabled father-in-law (Nick). Petrofaccio noticed a crib upstairs, but this is for Willa’s newborn grandson (Dusty) who lives...
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...Willa plans to tell everyone about the house at once. She worries for her father-in-law, Nick, and wonders how her complicated daughter, Tig, will react.
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Chapter 3: Investigators
...the house for the first time since arriving—a good sign. Tig is surprisingly good with Nick, her crochety grandfather, for which Willa is grateful.
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Nick delivers his familiar rant on the Greek Civil War and the evils of communism. Iano...
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Chapter 5: Striking Out
In the present, Willa gets Nick ready for a doctor’s appointment in Philadelphia with great difficulty. He requires a portable oxygen...
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Despite their shared familial history, Willa feels distant from Nick and wishes she were driving her mother instead. Nick comments that Glassboro, New Jersey was...
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Nick agrees with what Willa said at dinner—that everyone wants a better life for their children....
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At the doctor’s office, Willa fills out Nick’s paperwork. Among other conditions, Nick’s diabetes is causing his legs and feet to bleed uncontrollably....
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The receptionist says the office would require every specialist in Nick’s network to deny him treatment before they are able to treat them. Willa finds this...
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...conjured her own Cat Stevens, as Iano bears a physical resemblance to the singer. Now, Nick stays in the car with the ignition on while Willa approaches Iano’s building. Students are...
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...everything to work out. Hearing from Iano that Zeke is waiting to help her unload Nick at home, Willa reluctantly returns to the car, which is now surrounded by a crowd....
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Chapter 7: The Cake
The conversation turns to Nick, whose condition is worsening. Tig usually cares for him, but she was already at work...
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...the birds into flight. A text arrives—it’s Tig on someone else’s phone. She is taking Nick to the emergency room and tells Willa to come home. Another bad storm is coming...
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Chapter 9: The Front of the Line
...doesn’t know Tig but is one of Iano’s students. Iano is at the hospital with Nick, who is recovering from a serious stroke. The girl seems irritated with Willa, despite the...
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...Boston meeting with clients. Willa’s latest goal is to get her family on Medicaid, since Nick’s hospitalization has worsened their dire financial situation. Now, Zeke calls with an update on his...
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...eases her anxiety, but she can’t do it for long, as she has to visit Nick at the hospital. Still crochety, Nick needs someone to mediate his care with the hospital...
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...them. Iano, grading papers in bed, says she looks happy. He feels guilty for leaving Nick alone overnight. Willa had to leave the hospital early because Dusty is eating more. Iano’s...
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Leaving Dusty at home with Iano, Willa goes to the hospital to see Nick. The nursing staff recognize her. She watches through Nick’s doorway as Tig feeds him lunch....
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...work on the paperwork together, Willa compliments Tig’s kind treatment of her brash and racist grandfather. On her computer, Willa mistakenly interprets the Medicaid term “MAGI” (modified adjusted gross income) as...
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...said, Tig thinks the world boils down to a few wealthy hoarders and their supporters—like Nick—who hope in vain to “get into the club.” She can be nice to Nick because...
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Chapter 11: Revelations
...most nights at Jorge’s, but she occasionally surprises Willa by joining the family sleepover. Only Nick sleeps alone in his new hospital bed, courtesy of Medicaid. Zeke is once again in...
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...making Willa wistful for connection with her daughter. Iano talks with Zeke, who is pushing Nick’s wheelchair, while Willa carries Dusty. Willa feels like a voyeur watching Tig interact playfully with...
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...and Tig begin an argument. She backtracks along the street to find Iano fiddling with Nick’s oxygen system. The tank is almost empty. Iano is relieved to see Willa, who alone...
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At his six-month checkup, the doctor confirms that Dusty is healthy. Nick, however, seems close to death. Willa and Tig keep vigil in his room overnight. Tig...
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Chapter 13: Mr. Occam’s Razor
...since learning about Mary and Thatcher’s friendship. The radio reports that the Bullhorn—the brazen politician Nick likes—is winning the New Hampshire primary. Willa changes the station and hears a song that...
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Willa and Iano arrive home to find Tig and Jorge in the middle of changing Nick’s adult diaper while he puts up a fight—Nick’s nurse only comes in the mornings, so...
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Willa administers Nick’s morphine because she doesn’t want anyone else to bear the guilt if something goes wrong....
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Willa informs Tig that Iano and his sisters have decided to cremate Nick. Tig figured this was the plan but is upset that Willa was going to tell...
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Nick steadily declines for weeks. One day, as predicted by his nurse, Nick rallies and demands...
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The group reconvenes after Nick finds a section full of Greek names where he can be buried. On the walk...
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Chapter 15: Unexpected Reserves
Back in the present, Nick dies quietly in his sleep. A week later, Willa feeds Dusty and examines the baby-food...
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...they’re on a soap opera. His sisters feel guilty that Willa had to deal with Nick at the end of his life. Iano complains about having to sit between an overweight...
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After Nick’s death, Willa set up her office in his room. She is secretly drafting a book...
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Some days later, Willa, Tig, and Dusty take Nick’s ashes to the cemetery. They bring a picnic as cover for their illicit activities and...
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Tig claims that Willa and Nick want the same things: a nice house and a good future for their children. Consumerism,...
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