These characters are Alice's parents, well-off, socially prominent, integrated (at least to some degree) in white society. As seen through the eyes and perceptions of narrator Jones, Alice's mother is highly image conscious, while her father is a pretentious exploiter and manipulator. But while he occasionally responds with barely veiled sarcasm to what he believes to be their true natures, because he loves and wants Alice so much, he goes along with their pretensions.