Character Analysis
Samuel and Patricia Kingsley are the parents of Natasha and her younger brother, Peter. Samuel had always dreamed of being a professional actor, and one day on his way to an audition, it started to rain. He took shelter in a clothing store so he wouldn't ruin his outfit, and it just so happened that Patricia was the manager of that clothing store. Samuel turned on the charm and even missed his audition to impress her, but it worked—he swept her off her feet.
After Natasha was born, Samuel decided to move to the Big Apple and try to make it on Broadway. For almost two years, Patricia and Natasha were on their own until Patricia told Samuel it felt like they weren't a family any more. Shortly after, the Kingsley girls joined Samuel in NYC, which meant his days of crashing on couches and scraping by on his tiny savings account were over.
When reality finally set in, Samuel became unhappy. He worked the graveyard shift as a security guard with plans to audition during the day, but he was too tired and couldn't catch a break due to his Jamaican accent.
Fast forward to the present and not much has changed: Patricia is working herself to the bone trying to provide for the family, and Samuel still can't get any work as an actor...until one of his friends decides to stage A Raisin in the Sun Off-Off-Off-Off-Off Broadway, and casts Samuel in the lead role of Walter Younger.
Interestingly, A Raisin in the Sun is the only show in which Samuel was cast back in Jamaica as well. There's a whole lot of symbolism to unpack behind Nicola Yoon's choice of that particular play—we'll get to that later—but suffice it to say that Samuel doesn't have to dig very deep to connect with the role of starry-eyed Walter.
In the end, Samuel's dreams are the catalyst that sends the Kingsleys back to Jamaica. After his performance in the play, he celebrates with his actor friends, gets drunk, and hits a police car—never a good sign. To make things a million times worse, Samuel delivers an Oscar-worthy monologue to the officer about his long journey to America, revealing that he and his family have overstayed their visa and are undocumented immigrants.
Uh-oh. The officer arrests Samuel on the spot and turns the Kingsleys in to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation. Patricia is understandably freaking out, and Samuel tells her everything will be okay. She reminds him that he always promised to make her dreams come true, and he snaps back that her dreams are nothing compared to his.
This fight is already harsh enough, but unfortunately Natasha's standing right outside the door and hears every word—including when her dad says he wishes he'd never met her mom and had kids. It's not until Patricia dies years later in Jamaica that Samuel fully understands he made the right choice in marrying her.
Like the stories of many other characters in the book, Samuel and Patricia's saga poses some philosophical questions:
- If Samuel really hadn't met Patricia, would he have been as successful as he dreamed of being, or would his thin skin and fear of failure have held him back regardless?
- Is Patricia's dissatisfaction with her life justified given that she was initially impressed by Samuel's ambitions and wanted to join him in America? Last we checked, struggling actors are never really rolling in cash.
- Do you think Samuel and Patricia resolved these differences after they were deported—if so, how?
- In the final non-epilogue chapter, Nicola Yoon tells readers that Samuel realizes he made the right choice after Patricia dies. What could have changed his mind?
- Most importantly, if you're naturally gifted at something like Samuel is at acting, should you chase that dream at all costs, as Samuel believes? Do you have an obligation to balance your dreams with the reality of your situation, as Patricia tells him?