Father Comes Home from the Wars Quotes

“Both choices are / Nothing more than the same coin [that] ain’t even in your pocket.” (Part 1)

– Homer

Analysis: In this dialogue from Part 1, Homer highlights the problem with accepting an outsider’s definition of freedom. Boss-Master’s request for Hero to join him at war gives Hero a false sense of agency. Decision-making feels like freedom, something Hero has never experienced before, but Homer’s words remind him that neither option—joining Boss-Master at war or suffering punishment for disobeying—is freeing because he has no ownership over the options.

“You’re waiting for him to give you Freedom / When you should take it.” (Part 1)

– Homer

Analysis: Homer continues eviscerating Hero’s supposed “options.” At Boss-Master’s request, Hero must decide between supporting the Confederate cause or maiming himself, neither of which actually benefits Hero. Homer encourages him to create his own future by running away. Only in creating a third option for his future can Hero truly be free.

“I’ll go trot behind the Master. / The non-Hero that I am.” (Part 1)

– Hero

Analysis: When Hero decides to accompany Boss-Master at the end of Part 1, his dialogue highlights the dehumanization of his decision. He speaks about himself disparagingly because he has been outed as the “rat” who betrayed Homer. The word “trot” also creates animalistic descriptive imagery, suggesting a parallel with Hero’s dog Odd-See, who returns to Hero’s side even after being kicked. At the end of the play, Hero feels a sense of loyalty to Boss-Master despite the innate dehumanization and abuse in their relationship.

“Now we will make an inspection of his person. His physical person. Stand.” (Part 2)

– Boss-Master

Analysis: When discussing Hero’s value with Smith in Part 2, the Colonel first describes Hero’s personality and then explores his physicality to assign value. The act is totally dehumanizing for Hero, and it highlights the objectification of slaves. It also reinforces the idea that Black Confederates could never be considered equal to their white counterparts. Hero’s value could not exist without the objectification of a white gaze.

“I’d be feeling… just like I felt when my son died but worse… and I’d weep.” (Part 2)

– Boss-Master

Analysis: The Colonel’s self-worth exists solely within the framework of his definition of himself as a “good” man. In Part 2, he claims to love Hero in the same way he loved his own son, yet he beats, threatens and enslaves him. This disconnect highlights a fundamental flaw in the Colonel’s outlook. He can’t be a “good person” if he perpetuates institutions that create inequality and brutality.

“Where’s the beauty in not being worth nothing?” (Part 2)

– Hero

Analysis: During his discussion with Smith in Part 2, Hero wonders how much he’ll be worth as a free man. Clearly, he has internalized white objectification and valuation. He can’t understand the true value of freedom: belonging to oneself. Through quotes like these, Parks reminds audiences that the struggle to value Black lives continues.

“I ain’t sitting on your shelf / I have misplaced myself.” (Part 3)

– The musician

Analysis: Each of the musician’s songs deepens the audience’s understanding of the play’s themes. This lyric from “Misplaced Myself,” at the opening of Part 3, highlights the inherent objectification of enslavement by comparing slaves to objects on their masters’ shelves. By “misplacing” themselves (i.e., escaping to freedom), slaves create agency by controlling their own futures.

“Funny how you can grow to like something like that.” (Part 3)

– Odd-See

Analysis: In Part 3, Odyssey Dog considers how he grew to like the cruel name “Odd-See” given to him by his master. This quote has deeper relevance when considered through the lens of Ulysses’ decision to stay on Boss-Master’s land. In the same way that Odd-See grew to like his name, Hero grew to “like” his relationship with Boss-Master, feeling more at home on the land of his enslavement than in the possibility of enjoying freedom in the North.

“Remember your place, dog.” (Part 3)

– Hero

Analysis: At the end of Part 3, Hero has morphed into a different version of himself. He has adopted the name Ulysses after the Union General Ulysses Grant, married a new wife, and chosen to stay on Boss-Master’s land rather than run north. In this new iteration, he has adopted the “master” role in his relationship with Odyssey. Even though the dog can converse and offer advice, Ulysses abuses him and reminds him of his “place” in much the same way Boss-Master used to do to him.

“I’ll help.” (Part 3)

– Odd-See

Analysis: Just as Hero adopts the “master” role that defined Boss-Master’s character in Parts 1 and 2, Odyssey Dog now fully embraces Hero’s new role. Despite Hero’s abuse of him, Odyssey Dog willingly stays to help dig a grave at the end of Part 3. The play closes with Odyssey Dog holding the silver-tipped shovel, which serves as an ironic reminder of the uselessness of external value within the context of slavery.