Jean, as noted above, is Dagmar's second husband and the primary father figure in the author's young life. Flighty, impulsive, relatively uneducated and a self-victimizer, Jean is what is often described as a "ne-er do-well", someone who, in spite of what they believe to be their best efforts, never seems to get ahead. In other words, Jean is something of a self-sabotager, or at least that's how the author portrays him. Jean does, at times, appear to make an effort to be a good and responsible father figure, but the author consistently portrays him as being afflicted with poor judgment, hapless and ineffectual.