Thomas Kennedy: The Veterinarian Who Became Gabriel's Surrogate Grandfather

Overview

Thomas Kennedy is a veterinarian who comes to Lakota, Wisconsin, after the suicide of his wife Angela and the investigations that followed. The novel states that Lakota values anonymity and the freedom to fail, and Thomas is introduced as one of the people who found refuge there. In the prologue, teenager Jasper Fisher brings his mother Rachel to Thomas during a prolonged labor. Because Rachel refuses medical help, Thomas uses livestock surgical techniques to deliver an eighteen-pound baby boy, Gabriel. Rachel dies shortly after the birth. That event eventually strips Lakota of its obscurity and turns Gabriel's birth into a local legend.

Thomas is not Gabriel's biological father, but he becomes the most constant adult presence in the boy's life. He visits weekly, brings food, takes Gabriel on veterinary calls, and later shelters him after a career-ending amputation. The text does not present Thomas as a heroic figure. It shows him as a grieving, cautious, sometimes indecisive man who finds purpose through caregiving. A reader can fairly call him the novel's moral center, but that is interpretation; what the text makes explicit is that he repeatedly shows up.

Plot Role

Thomas serves as one of the novel's recurring narrators and as a bridge between Lakota's English and Amish communities. His plot role includes:

Performing the emergency birth that sets the entire story in motion.
Becoming Gabriel's earliest advocate outside Jasper's household.
Witnessing Gabriel's childhood, athletic rise, injury, wrestling career, and death.
Providing Gabriel a home after the amputation and again during his final illness.
Developing a quiet romantic attachment to Hannah Fisher that shapes the novel's ending.

Without Thomas, Gabriel's story would still exist, but it would lack its most reliable witness. Thomas is the character who turns the extraordinary events into a human story.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

The novel reveals Thomas mostly through what he does. The table below separates explicit narrative facts from interpretive readings.

Explicit fact	What it shows	Interpretation
Thomas fled Milwaukee after Angela's suicide and the investigations that followed.	He sought a place where his past would not define him.	Lakota's anonymity functions as a form of healing for Thomas.
He performed an emergency delivery using animal birthing tools.	He was willing to act when no other option existed.	Thomas treats human and animal bodies with the same practical urgency.
He began weekly Friday visits, bringing fish dinners and helping Jasper.	He gave steady, unglamorous support.	Thomas expresses love through routine care rather than grand gestures.
He gave Gabriel books from his mother's old library.	He connected with Gabriel through reading.	Thomas passes along the solitary childhood he once knew.
After Gabriel's amputation, he hired Gabriel as a paid veterinary assistant.	He gave Gabriel work, dignity, and purpose.	Thomas understands that being needed is part of recovery.
He collected feathers and placed one on Gabriel's body after his death.	He honored Gabriel in a quiet, physical way.	Thomas processes grief through ritual and observation rather than words.

The novel also shows Thomas's cautious personality. When Jasper tells Gabriel to punch bullies, Thomas says it is probably not what he would do, then offers a gentler version of the advice: protect your chin and swing for the fences. He does not openly contradict Jasper, but he also does not endorse violence. This moment captures his instinct to avoid confrontation while still trying to guide the boy.

Chronological Arc

Thomas's story moves through several phases, each marked by loss and renewed caregiving.

Refuge and the Birth

Thomas arrives in Lakota already carrying the trauma of Angela's suicide and the stillbirth of their son Samuel. Two years later, Jasper drives Rachel to his door. Thomas delivers Gabriel, and Rachel dies. In the aftermath, Thomas begins visiting Jasper and the baby. This is the beginning of his second life.

Surrogate Grandfather

The novel records Gabriel's rapid growth: crawling at four months, walking by eight months, weighing thirty-four pounds at one year. Thomas becomes a regular presence. When Gabriel turns five, Thomas takes him on weekend veterinary calls. By age nine, Gabriel stands six feet four inches and reads Jack London, and Thomas supplements his education with classics like The Yearling and White Fang. Thomas also brings him to Milwaukee to visit Dorothy, Thomas's mother, who has dementia. Dorothy does not recognize Thomas but tells Gabriel, "This boy is going to save the world." The trip deepens the bond between Thomas and Gabriel.

Witness to Trauma

Late that same night, Thomas and Gabriel return to Jasper's farm to find Jasper missing. Thomas hears screams, goes to the barn, and discovers Jasper has hanged himself. He shields Gabriel from the scene and tries to comfort him. The event haunts both of them. In the following winter, Thomas drifts through a sluggish season, questioning the value of his childless life and remembering how his marriage to Angela disintegrated after Samuel's stillbirth.

College and Loss

When Gabriel leaves for the University of Wisconsin, Thomas stays in touch through frequent emails. Gabriel asks Thomas about love after meeting Isabella, and Thomas offers fatherly advice despite his own uncertainty. When Gabriel's knee is shattered during a football game, the resulting tissue damage requires an above-the-knee amputation. Gabriel then moves into Thomas's home. Thomas helps him exercise, works with him through prosthetic rehabilitation, and hires him as a veterinary assistant.

Wrestling and Late-Life Awakening

Gabriel grows restless and tells Thomas he misses football and feels his gifts are wasted. Thomas watches Gabriel accept a wrestling contract and become "Anakim, the Amish Giant." When Thomas invites Hannah to Chicago to see Gabriel's title match, their friendship takes an intimate turn. Afterward, Thomas reveals the full story of Angela's suicide, and Hannah offers him counsel about forgiveness. When Absalom, Hannah's father, dies in a fire, Thomas attends the funeral but keeps his distance afterward.

Final Care and Departure

Gabriel learns he has an inoperable tumor. Thomas agrees without hesitation to pick him up at O'Hare and let him stay in Lakota. During Gabriel's final months, Thomas joins Hannah and Josiah in caregiving. After Gabriel's death, his mother dies, and Thomas realizes he cannot stay in Lakota because his love for Hannah is hopeless. He sells his house to Isabella Alvarez, buys a rustic cabin in Montana, and drives west, feeling at seventy-one that his life is about to begin.

Relationships

Thomas's most important relationships are defined by care and loss.

Gabriel: Thomas is a surrogate grandfather, teacher, and protector. He gives Gabriel books, veterinary experience, and a home. He is present at Gabriel's birth and death.
Jasper: Thomas respects Jasper's selflessness as a young father and tries to help without offending his pride. Jasper trusts Thomas enough to let Gabriel travel with him.
Hannah Fisher: Their relationship grows from cautious friendship into a deep emotional bond. Thomas reads her line "We'll have the day" as both an intimate promise and a boundary. He loves her, but he never asks her to leave Josiah. Later, Hannah leaves Josiah and stays with Thomas for a time, but she ultimately returns to her husband and great-grandson.
Angela: Thomas's dead wife appears through memory. Their marriage broke apart after Samuel's stillbirth, and Angela's grief turned into blame and cruelty. Thomas carries guilt about his role in her suicide.
Dorothy Kennedy: Thomas's mother is a brilliant former English professor. Thomas visits her in memory care even when she does not recognize him. After her death, he scatters her ashes in Lake Michigan.
Josiah Fisher: The two men share care for Gabriel, though their worlds remain separate. Josiah delivers a custom bed and chair to Thomas's home after the amputation, signaling trust.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Decision	Consequence
Using animal birthing tools to deliver Gabriel	Saves Gabriel's life and set the town's story in motion.
Visiting Jasper weekly and helping with Gabriel	Creates a lifelong bond and gives Gabriel a stable adult presence.
Advising Gabriel to protect his chin and swing for the fences	Offers a measured alternative to Jasper's aggression without breaking trust.
Taking Gabriel into his home after the amputation	Provides the support Gabriel needs to recover and later to choose wrestling.
Inviting Hannah to Chicago	Deepens their intimacy and eventually makes it impossible for Thomas to stay in Lakota.
Moving to Montana after Gabriel's death	Gives Thomas a new beginning and closes the novel on a note of cautious hope.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Thomas connects to nearly every major theme in the book. See the book overview for the full picture, but the strongest links are:

Anonymity versus spectacle: Thomas flees Milwaukee's scrutiny for Lakota's anonymity, then watches Gabriel become a global spectacle while remaining a private man. His refusal to celebrate Gabriel with a town sign reinforces this theme. Explore anonymity versus spectacle.
Faith, doubt, and forgiveness: Thomas admits to Hannah that he has never been baptized, and he offers a scientific explanation for the fireflies around Gabriel's death. Hannah calls it a miracle; Thomas calls it an impressive hatch of insects. Their disagreement is respectful rather than hostile. See faith, doubt, and forgiveness.
The body as miracle and commodity: Thomas treats Gabriel's giant body as a biological reality, then watches that body become a football attraction and a wrestling product. The prosthetic leg, first a medical aid, later becomes a weapon in the ring. See the body as miracle and commodity.
Grief and caregiving: Thomas's life is structured around caring for others after loss: Angela, Samuel, his mother, Jasper, Gabriel, and finally Hannah. His caregiving is quiet and practical. See grief and caregiving.
Mortality and legacy: Thomas reads biographies and measures his own life against them. At the end, Hannah tells him that it is the good we leave behind that makes a life worth living. His decision to pass his house to Bella and Raphael is an act of legacy. See mortality and legacy and the ending explained.

Book-Specific Questions and Answers

Why did Thomas leave Milwaukee and settle in Lakota?

The novel states that Thomas fled Milwaukee after his wife Angela's suicide and the ensuing investigations. Lakota attracted him because its residents treasured anonymity and granted people the freedom to fail without punishment.
How did Thomas deliver Gabriel?

Rachel was in prolonged labor and refused medical help. Thomas used livestock surgical techniques and veterinarian's cables to deliver the eighteen-pound baby. Rachel died shortly after the birth.
Why did Thomas tell Gabriel to "swing for the fences" after Jasper's advice?

Jasper had told Gabriel to punch bullies and loosen some teeth. Thomas did not openly reject that advice, but he said it was probably not what he would do, then offered a defensive version: protect your chin and swing for the fences. The text shows him trying to guide Gabriel without undermining Jasper's authority.
What was Thomas's role after Gabriel's amputation?

Gabriel moved into Thomas's home. Thomas helped him exercise, supported his work with a temporary prosthetic leg, and hired him as a paid veterinary assistant. When Gabriel later wanted to accept a wrestling contract, Thomas did not stop him, and he continued to support Gabriel by attending his matches and shielding Hannah from the worst scandals.
Why did Thomas move to Montana at the end?

After Gabriel's death and the death of his mother, Thomas realized he could not stay in Lakota because his love for Hannah could never be fulfilled. He sold his house to Isabella Alvarez, bought a rustic cabin in Montana, and left at seventy-one with the sense that his life was just beginning.

For more discussion, see the questions and answers page.