Character Analysis
Dora
Dora is Chester's little sis. Chester has fond memories of hanging out with his kid sister when he's still a little boy, and when he's shipped off to boarding school for the first time, he goes there with Dora. Even though Chester can't hang out with Dora at school because she's with the girls and he's with the boys, he feels connected to her because they both go through the scary (matrons! Terrifying matrons!) experience of boarding school together.
When Chester comes back from the war, Dora's the first person he tells about his scary wartime nightmares:
I […] broke down and told my sister Dora about these unwelcome visitors. (17.34)
Dora's presented in the book as an important part of the family unit. She's a support for Chester during his tough times.
Father
Chester's dad is extremely cool—did you think Chester's dad could be anything else? He looks after his kids when Chester's mother dies (kind of like what Chester himself ends up doing after his divorce from Ethel). And Chester's dad is a great storyteller, spending long evenings telling his kids stories about the Navajo.
When the Navajo code is declassified by the military in 1968, and Chester tells his dad about his code work, his dad is really proud:
He was so happy and proud […] he used to kind of show me off. (21. 2)
Father, like Dora, is another important part of the family unit. He instills important values in his son, like honor and courage, and through his storytelling he functions as a link between Chester and the heritage of his Navajo ancestors.
Coolidge
Chester's big brother Coolidge is something of a protector. When Chester's being bullied at boarding school, Coolidge steps in to protect his little brother. And when Chester returns from the Pacific, he first goes to see Coolidge in Albuquerque. Even though Chester isn't as close to Coolidge as he is to Dora, he still has a strong bond with his big bro. Coolidge is a part of the family, and family is an important source of identity and support for Chester in the book.
Chester's Kids
Chester has a strong bond with his kids. He tells us that once he started a family, he "made sure to spend lots of time with [his] children and their friends" (21.26). His kids are fun to hang out with, and they love their daddy-o. When his son Stanley dies in a car crash at the age of twenty-one, Chester is devastated. Stanley especially had taken after his dad. Chester tells us that "Stanley had inherited the artistic talent that had inspired me to be a fine-arts major in college" (21.12).
After the war, Chester's life comes to center around his kids. Not only does he look after them, but they come to look after him, too. His son Michael and his family take care of Chester beginning in the 1980s, when Chester goes back to Albuquerque to live with them. From Chester's account, his son and his daughter-in-law do a good job taking care of him.