American Street

by

Ibi Zoboi

Phillip/Jean-Phillip François Character Analysis

Phillip was Fabiola’s uncle; Matant Jo’s husband; and Chantal, Pri, and Donna’s father. He’s been deceased for about a decade when the novel begins. In the late 1990s, Phillip immigrated to the United States from Haiti. In Haiti, Phillip sold cars, so he has big dreams of becoming rich by working in Detroit’s car factories. Like many immigrants before him, he was thrilled when he saw the house at 8800 American Street, which sits on the corner of American Street and Joy Road—he thought that by purchasing the house, he’d buy a piece of “American joy.” But although he, Matant Jo, and their daughters were happy in that house, Phillip couldn’t make ends meet working in the factory. He ultimately turned to selling drugs on the side for Uncle Q, something that resulted in his murder. While his living family doesn’t know who killed him, Dray reveals to the reader (after his own death) that he accidentally shot Phillip when he was 10 years old, under Uncle Q’s watchful eye. This possibly explains Uncle Q’s generous payout of $30,000 to Matant Jo to make up for what Chantal describes as “a deal gone bad.” Dray also reveals that Phillip’s ghost has been haunting him since Phillip died. Phillip’s death also destroyed his family in important ways: Matant Jo became a loan shark to make ends meet, while their children feel compelled to defend themselves and their family history by any means necessary. In Haiti, Fabiola and Manman prayed daily for Uncle Phillip and for Matant Jo, who was devastated by her husband’s death.

Phillip/Jean-Phillip François Quotes in American Street

The American Street quotes below are all either spoken by Phillip/Jean-Phillip François or refer to Phillip/Jean-Phillip François. 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:
Dignity and the American Dream Theme Icon
).
Princess’s Story Quotes

Ma named us Primadonna and Princess ‘cause she thought being born in America to a father with a good-paying job at a car factory and a house and a bright future meant that we would be royalty. But when our father got killed, that’s when shit fell apart.

Related Characters: Pri/Princess François (speaker), Fabiola Toussaint, Donna/Primadonna François, Chantal François, Matant Jo François, Phillip/Jean-Phillip François
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 44
Explanation and Analysis:
Matant Jo’s Story Quotes

This is your home now, Fabiola. This is Phillip’s house—the house he bought with the last bit of money he had from Haiti. He had dreams, you know. That’s why when he saw this house for sale, on the corner of American Street and Joy Road, he insisted on buying it with the cash from his ransacked and burned-to-the-ground car dealership in Port-au-Prince. He thought he was buying American Joy.

Related Characters: Matant Jo François (speaker), Fabiola Toussaint, Phillip/Jean-Phillip François
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 57
Explanation and Analysis:
The Story of 8800 American Street Quotes

So in 2000, Jean-Phillip François, the Haitian immigrant and the first occupant to actually land a job at a car factory—the Chrysler plant—paid the city three thousand dollars in cash for that little house on American Street.

And maybe because the little house had been revived with the sounds of babies and the scent of warm meals and love and hopes and dreams, Death woke from its long sleep to claim the life of Haitian immigrant and father of three Jean-Phillip François with a single bullet to the head outside the Chrysler plant.

Death parked itself on the corner of American and Joy, some days as still as stone, other days singing cautionary songs and delivering telltale riddles, waiting for the day when one girl would ask to open the gates to the other side.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint, Matant Jo François, Bad Leg/Papa Legba, Phillip/Jean-Phillip François
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 219
Explanation and Analysis:
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Phillip/Jean-Phillip François Quotes in American Street

The American Street quotes below are all either spoken by Phillip/Jean-Phillip François or refer to Phillip/Jean-Phillip François. 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:
Dignity and the American Dream Theme Icon
).
Princess’s Story Quotes

Ma named us Primadonna and Princess ‘cause she thought being born in America to a father with a good-paying job at a car factory and a house and a bright future meant that we would be royalty. But when our father got killed, that’s when shit fell apart.

Related Characters: Pri/Princess François (speaker), Fabiola Toussaint, Donna/Primadonna François, Chantal François, Matant Jo François, Phillip/Jean-Phillip François
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 44
Explanation and Analysis:
Matant Jo’s Story Quotes

This is your home now, Fabiola. This is Phillip’s house—the house he bought with the last bit of money he had from Haiti. He had dreams, you know. That’s why when he saw this house for sale, on the corner of American Street and Joy Road, he insisted on buying it with the cash from his ransacked and burned-to-the-ground car dealership in Port-au-Prince. He thought he was buying American Joy.

Related Characters: Matant Jo François (speaker), Fabiola Toussaint, Phillip/Jean-Phillip François
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 57
Explanation and Analysis:
The Story of 8800 American Street Quotes

So in 2000, Jean-Phillip François, the Haitian immigrant and the first occupant to actually land a job at a car factory—the Chrysler plant—paid the city three thousand dollars in cash for that little house on American Street.

And maybe because the little house had been revived with the sounds of babies and the scent of warm meals and love and hopes and dreams, Death woke from its long sleep to claim the life of Haitian immigrant and father of three Jean-Phillip François with a single bullet to the head outside the Chrysler plant.

Death parked itself on the corner of American and Joy, some days as still as stone, other days singing cautionary songs and delivering telltale riddles, waiting for the day when one girl would ask to open the gates to the other side.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint, Matant Jo François, Bad Leg/Papa Legba, Phillip/Jean-Phillip François
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 219
Explanation and Analysis: