Mr. Kelly Character Analysis in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Mick’s father. A kind but sad man who once worked as a carpenter and housepainter but now, due to an injury, works as a watchmaker and jewelry repair man. Mr. Kelly is often lonely in spite of his many children and full house of boarders, and particularly longs to connect with Mick. Constantly worried about money at the start of the novel, Mr. Kelly’s troubles worsen after Bubber accidentally injures Baby Wilson, leading Lucile, Baby’s mother, to demand regular payment from the Kelly family to account for Baby’s medical bills.

Mr. Kelly Character Timeline in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Kelly appears in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...paper like he does every Sunday morning. When Singer doesn’t come downstairs, Mick asks her father where he is, and Mr. Kelly tells her that Singer came home late the night... (full context)

Racism, Inequality, and Injustice Theme Icon

...talks reverently about her Grandpapa’s farm several miles from town. When Portia mentions that her grandfather has an organ and a gramophone, Mick perks up—she asks why Portia doesn’t live there.... (full context)

Communication and Self-Expression Theme Icon

...a neighbor’s lawn in order to surreptitiously listen to a program on their radio. Mick’s father stops her in the living room and asks to talk to her a while. Mick... (full context)

...a prom party at the boarding house later that evening, and she, Bubber, Portia, and Mr. Kelly spend all afternoon cleaning and decorating the place with streamers. Mick has only ever been... (full context)

...a strange blur. Mick feels her mouth and body move in slow motion as her father comes out to help carry Baby inside the house. Baby’s mother Lucile comes hurrying over,... (full context)

...calls the house and says she’s coming over to have a talk with the Kellys. Mr. Kelly says he’s worried that Mrs. Wilson will sue them. Mick suddenly feels terrible for Bubber... (full context)

...hiding place. Biff Brannon, who has stayed behind, takes a search party including Portia, Mick, Mr. Kelly , and John Singer out in his car to look at Portia’s house, but Bubber... (full context)

...Bubber on the side of the road. He has a butcher knife on him, and Mr. Kelly gets out of the car to wrestle it away from him. Bubber kicks and screams... (full context)

Mick goes out to the yard to be alone. While she’s out there, her father calls her back inside, telling her she has a telephone call. Inside, Mick goes to... (full context)

...Lucile Wilson, and on top of it all, the sickly Etta isn’t able to work. Mr. Kelly tries advertising his watch repair skills by putting signs up around town, but the extra... (full context)

...it pays ten dollars, Mick becomes determined to take the job. In spite of her father’s initial hesitation, as soon as Mick says she wants the job, her parents both explode... (full context)