The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

by

Christopher Paul Curtis

Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) Character Analysis

Daniel Watson is Kenny’s father. A good-natured man, he enjoys making jokes and getting his family to laugh. He sometimes even makes fun of Byron, making it clear that his eldest son isn’t quite as cool and untouchable as he’d like to think. At the same time, though, Daniel is a serious disciplinarian and won’t stand for Byron’s antics. For example, when Byron gets a perm to straighten his hair, Daniel takes him to the bathroom and shaves his head. After consulting with his wife, Wilona, he also decides that it’s time for Byron to experience some real discipline. He and Wilona take the entire family down to Birmingham, Alabama so that Byron can live with Wilona’s mother, Grandma Sands. When he tries to explain to Kenny why it’s necessary to send Byron away, Daniel references the civil rights movement and the tension taking place in the early 1960s in the South. He points to the struggle for racial equality as a way of explaining why young Black people like Byron don’t have much wiggle room in life: there are many racist white people who are all too eager to make someone like Byron’s life harder, so Byron must—according to Daniel—learn to behave. His explanation has a significant impact on Kenny, who appreciates his father for speaking to him like an adult. In the end, Kenny is the one Daniel and Wilona end up worrying about the most, since he ventures into a Birmingham church after it has been bombed. Daniel and Wilona struggle with how to explain such violent and racist hatred to Kenny, often breaking down and crying because they know there’s no good way to tell children about the harsh realities of the world.

Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) Quotes in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

The The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 quotes below are all either spoken by Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) or refer to Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father). 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:
Change, Coming of Age, and Maturity Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

All of my family sat real close together on the couch under a blanket. Dad said this would generate a little heat but he didn’t have to tell us this, it seemed like the cold automatically made us want to get together and huddle up.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father), Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother), Joetta Watson (Joey)
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:

“Oh yeah,” Dad interrupted, “they’re a laugh a minute down there. Let’s see, where was that ‘Coloreds Only’ bathroom downtown?”

“Daniel, you know what I mean, things aren’t perfect but people are more honest about the way they feel”—she took her mean eyes off Dad and put them on Byron—“and folks there do know how to respect their parents.”

Related Characters: Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) (speaker), Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother) (speaker), Byron Watson
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

I tried to look real intelligent and I guess it worked ’cause finally Dad said, “Kenny, we’ve put a lot of thought into this. I know you’ve seen on the news what’s happening in some parts of the South, right?” We’d seen the pictures of a bunch of really mad white people with twisted-up faces screaming and giving dirty finger signs to some little Negro kids who were trying to go to school. I’d seen the pictures but I didn’t really know how these white people could hate some kids so much.

“I’ve seen it.” I didn’t have to tell Dad I didn’t understand.

“Well, a lot of times that’s going to be the way of the world for you kids. Byron is getting old enough to have to understand that his time for playing is running out fast, he’s got to realize the world doesn’t have a lot of jokes waiting for him. He’s got to be ready.”

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) (speaker), Byron Watson
Page Number: 122
Explanation and Analysis:

“Well, that’s what being a grown-up is like. At first it’s scary but then before you realize, with a lot of practice, you have it under control. Hopefully you’ll have lots of time to practice being grown-up before you actually have to do it.”

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) (speaker)
Page Number: 125
Explanation and Analysis:

I thought about it for a minute, then asked, “Momma, how come we don’t just drive until Dad gets tired, then stop?”

Dad did an imitation of a hillbilly accent. “’Cuz, boy, this he-uh is the deep South you-all is gonna be drivin’ thoo. Y’all colored folks cain’t be jes’ pullin’ up tuh any ol’ way-uh an be ’spectin’ tuh get no room uh no food, yuh heah, boy? I said yuh heah what I’m sayin’, boy?”

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) (speaker), Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother)
Page Number: 132
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“Man, they got crackers and rednecks up here that ain’t never seen no Negroes before. If they caught your ass out here like this they’d hang you now, then eat you later.”

Related Characters: Byron Watson (speaker), Kenny Watson, Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father)
Page Number: 146
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

Grandma Sands called a couple of times and told them that the police thought two white men drove by in a car and threw it in during services, or that they’d already hidden it in the church with a clock set to go off during Sunday school. However it got in the church it had killed four little girls, blinded a couple more and sent a bunch of other people to the hospital. I couldn’t stop wondering if those two little girls I saw on the lawn were okay.

From my secret hiding place in the living room I could listen to Momma and Dad and it seemed like they spent most of the time trying to figure out how they could explain to us what happened. Some of the time they were mad, some of the time they were calm and some of the time they just sat on the couch and cried.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father), Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother), Grandma Sands
Page Number: 191
Explanation and Analysis:

He was also very wrong about there not being anything like magic powers or genies or angels. Maybe those weren’t the things that could make a run-over dog walk without wobbling but they were out there.

Maybe they were in the way your father smiled at you even after you’d messed something up real bad. Maybe they were in the way you understood that your mother wasn’t trying to make you the laughing “sock” of the whole school when she’d call you over in front of a bunch of your friends and use spit on her finger to wipe the sleep out of your eyes. Maybe it was magic powers that let you know she was just being Momma. Maybe they were the reason that you really didn’t care when the kids would say, “Yuck! You let your momma slob on you?” and you had to say, “Shut up. That’s my momma, we got the same germs.”

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father), Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother)
Related Symbols: Angels and Magical Powers
Page Number: 204-205
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 PDF

Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) Quotes in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

The The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 quotes below are all either spoken by Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) or refer to Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father). 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:
Change, Coming of Age, and Maturity Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

All of my family sat real close together on the couch under a blanket. Dad said this would generate a little heat but he didn’t have to tell us this, it seemed like the cold automatically made us want to get together and huddle up.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father), Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother), Joetta Watson (Joey)
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:

“Oh yeah,” Dad interrupted, “they’re a laugh a minute down there. Let’s see, where was that ‘Coloreds Only’ bathroom downtown?”

“Daniel, you know what I mean, things aren’t perfect but people are more honest about the way they feel”—she took her mean eyes off Dad and put them on Byron—“and folks there do know how to respect their parents.”

Related Characters: Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) (speaker), Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother) (speaker), Byron Watson
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

I tried to look real intelligent and I guess it worked ’cause finally Dad said, “Kenny, we’ve put a lot of thought into this. I know you’ve seen on the news what’s happening in some parts of the South, right?” We’d seen the pictures of a bunch of really mad white people with twisted-up faces screaming and giving dirty finger signs to some little Negro kids who were trying to go to school. I’d seen the pictures but I didn’t really know how these white people could hate some kids so much.

“I’ve seen it.” I didn’t have to tell Dad I didn’t understand.

“Well, a lot of times that’s going to be the way of the world for you kids. Byron is getting old enough to have to understand that his time for playing is running out fast, he’s got to realize the world doesn’t have a lot of jokes waiting for him. He’s got to be ready.”

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) (speaker), Byron Watson
Page Number: 122
Explanation and Analysis:

“Well, that’s what being a grown-up is like. At first it’s scary but then before you realize, with a lot of practice, you have it under control. Hopefully you’ll have lots of time to practice being grown-up before you actually have to do it.”

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) (speaker)
Page Number: 125
Explanation and Analysis:

I thought about it for a minute, then asked, “Momma, how come we don’t just drive until Dad gets tired, then stop?”

Dad did an imitation of a hillbilly accent. “’Cuz, boy, this he-uh is the deep South you-all is gonna be drivin’ thoo. Y’all colored folks cain’t be jes’ pullin’ up tuh any ol’ way-uh an be ’spectin’ tuh get no room uh no food, yuh heah, boy? I said yuh heah what I’m sayin’, boy?”

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father) (speaker), Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother)
Page Number: 132
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“Man, they got crackers and rednecks up here that ain’t never seen no Negroes before. If they caught your ass out here like this they’d hang you now, then eat you later.”

Related Characters: Byron Watson (speaker), Kenny Watson, Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father)
Page Number: 146
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

Grandma Sands called a couple of times and told them that the police thought two white men drove by in a car and threw it in during services, or that they’d already hidden it in the church with a clock set to go off during Sunday school. However it got in the church it had killed four little girls, blinded a couple more and sent a bunch of other people to the hospital. I couldn’t stop wondering if those two little girls I saw on the lawn were okay.

From my secret hiding place in the living room I could listen to Momma and Dad and it seemed like they spent most of the time trying to figure out how they could explain to us what happened. Some of the time they were mad, some of the time they were calm and some of the time they just sat on the couch and cried.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father), Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother), Grandma Sands
Page Number: 191
Explanation and Analysis:

He was also very wrong about there not being anything like magic powers or genies or angels. Maybe those weren’t the things that could make a run-over dog walk without wobbling but they were out there.

Maybe they were in the way your father smiled at you even after you’d messed something up real bad. Maybe they were in the way you understood that your mother wasn’t trying to make you the laughing “sock” of the whole school when she’d call you over in front of a bunch of your friends and use spit on her finger to wipe the sleep out of your eyes. Maybe it was magic powers that let you know she was just being Momma. Maybe they were the reason that you really didn’t care when the kids would say, “Yuck! You let your momma slob on you?” and you had to say, “Shut up. That’s my momma, we got the same germs.”

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father), Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother)
Related Symbols: Angels and Magical Powers
Page Number: 204-205
Explanation and Analysis: