Character Analysis
Flora's dad is a careful driver with a lonely spirit and a capacious heart. And despite having been in her life since the moment she was born, Flora's not really sure she knows anything about the guy. As we're told at one point:
It occurred to Flora that her father would make an excellent spy. He never really answered questions. Instead, when asked a question, he simply responded with a nifty sidestep or a question of his own. (26.7)
Sounds like a good spy to us, and also like a guy who's pretty hard to get to know. Flora is so used to not knowing much about her dad, though, that she doesn't make much of it—but when she finds out from Dr. Meescham that he's spent many a day crying on her horsehair couch, we realize right along with her tat there is more to her pops that it seems.
Luckily for Flora and her dad, they manage to get closer throughout the book. As they do, it becomes clear that in addition to his aloofness, Flora also never really gave the guy a chance before Ulysses came into her life. In the end, it's her dad who stands up for her and makes her mom see the squirrel isn't such a bad thing after all, and when he does, we see that not only does he care about his daughter, he also accepts her for who she is. Turns out he's a decent dad after all.