# Oliver Gant — Look Homeward, Angel character guide > Oliver Gant in Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Oliver, II Oliver, Oliver Gant, Gant **First appearance:** 0003-look-homeward-angel ## Snapshot A booming stonecutter and drunkard who carves angels by day and rages through the house by night, terrified of the cancer eating him. ## Who they are Oliver Gant is Eugene's father, a Welsh-born marble cutter whose magnificent voice and hammer-hurling tantrums fill the boarding house with terror and poetry. He drinks, he philanders, he weeps over his own decline, and he never speaks the word cancer even as his body betrays him. His slow dying and his furious, theatrical love for his children set the emotional weather of the novel's middle, making every marble angel in his shop feel like a monument to his own vanishing strength. ## In the story ### [Part I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/look-homeward-angel) Introduced as a stonecutter and dreamer, whose artistic temperament clashes with domestic life. ### [The Stonecutter's Legacy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-i) Introduced as the second son of Gilbert Gaunt, a stonecutter who apprentices in Baltimore and later moves to Altamont, where he meets Eliza Pentland. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-ii) Marries Eliza, builds their house on Woodson Street, struggles with alcoholism, and has a tumultuous relationship with Eliza. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-iii) Turns fifty and is consumed by a tragic awareness of time and lost opportunities; he descends into a severe alcoholic binge, feeling alienated and humiliated by Eliza's public actions. ### [Chapter IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-iv) Eugene's father, who delights in Eugene's first word and tells the story repeatedly to neighbors. ### [Chapter V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-v) Mourns Grover, reluctantly agrees to Eliza's Fair venture, and stays behind in Altamont. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-vi) Restores vitality to the family with roaring fires, lavish meals, dramatic recitations, and explosive rituals; shows affection and abuse, carries large sums of money. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-vii) Returns from his final journey to California, grappling with aging and the realization of his trapped life. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-viii) Observes Eugene's love of books and dreams of making him a lawyer or politician; argues with Eliza over credit for Eugene's intelligence. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-ix) Works on gravestones, rants at draymen, and boasts about Eugene's reading. ### [The Paradox of Generosity and the Burden of Family](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-x) Oliver Gant uses emotional manipulation and guilt to control Eugene, painting vivid pictures of his own death and using the story of 'Little Jimmy' to make Eugene renounce a promised pony. He is a fluent apologist for economic independence. ### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-xi) Criticizes the purchase of Dixieland as a curse; stays with Helen; enjoys hearing Helen sing 'I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now'. ### [Chapter XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-xii) Takes Eugene on a journey to Augusta, displaying his roving spirit and pride in Eugene's precocity. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-xiii) Suffers from rheumatism, is crippled in his right hand, nursed by Helen, boasts of her devotion. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xiv) Gant is mentioned sleeping heavily, snoring and rattling the window-sash. ### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xv) His expanding outward nature influences Eugene; he jointly owns the shop on the Square with Eliza. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xvi) Fidgets and scoffs at the idea of private school, deferring to Eliza. ### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xviii) Gant is awed and terrified by his car purchase, oscillating between exaltation and despair over expenses, and often curses Luke's reckless driving. ### [The Angel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xix) Aging and stooped, Gant spends his days gossiping on the Square, weeping over his stiffened hand, and selling his beloved angel statue to Elizabeth. ### [Chapter XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xx) Suffers from an enlarged prostate, shows signs of aging and fear of death, tells embellished stories to boarders, and attends movies with Eugene. ### [Chapter XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xxi) Gant's health declines; he votes for prohibition but continues drinking secretly, engages in lecherous behavior with a widow, and has a confrontation with the cook Annie. ### [Chapter XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xxiii) Writes letters to Helen expressing loneliness, financial anxiety, and concern for the family; reports on Eugene's progress and Ben's aloofness. ### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xxvi) Undergoes surgery for cancer at Johns Hopkins; is recovering in a wheelchair, feeling hopeful. ### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xxvii) Says little about Helen's engagement; helps determine that Eugene will attend State University. ### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxviii) His will sends Eugene to university; Ben speaks scornfully of him and their father-son shame. ### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxi) Goes to Baltimore for radium treatment after a violent spree; lies moaning in bed, provoking Helen's anger; mutters about his boyhood as he enters the hospital. ### [XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxiii) Described as a fallen Titan staring into the Past; gives Eugene money for his trip but predicts he will return quickly. ### [Chapter XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxiv) Now living in a back room at Eliza's, described as waxen, petulant, and feeble. ### [Chapter XXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxv) Moans petulantly about his own suffering and the cost of the funeral, detached from the reality of Ben's dying. ### [Chapter XXXVI: The Morning After Ben's Death](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxvi) Calls Eliza by name for the first time in thirty years, offers to pay for the funeral, and shows a rare moment of reconciliation. ### [Chapter XXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxvii) Mentioned as not dying despite expectations, a source of Helen's frustration. ### [XXXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxix) In declining health, a spectre in waxen yellow, relapses into whining dotage after graduation. ### [Chapter XL](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xl) Oliver's name is seen faded on the old brick, and his angels are on the porch. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/oliver_gant - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters