Buddy Lee Jenkins in Razorblade Tears: A Character Analysis

Overview of Buddy Lee Jenkins in Razorblade Tears (2021) by S.A. Cosby — Buddy Lee Jenkins Character Analysis. Buddy Lee Jenkins is one of the two grieving fathers at the center of Razorblade Tears. A white ex-convict living in a trailer in Red Hill County, Virginia, Buddy Lee is introduced as the father of Derek Jenkins, who was murdered alongside his husband, Isiah Randolph. The novel follows Buddy Lee and Ike Randolph as they set aside their differences to investigate their sons' deaths, a partnership that evolves into something resembling brotherhood. Buddy Lee's defining traits emerge through action rather than description: he is violent, self-aware about his own failings, and driven by a grief he cannot express through tears. He admits early on that he beat Derek as a teenager for kissing another boy, and much of his arc involves confronting the legacy of that rejection. He is also dying—the novel reveals late that his persistent coughing is cancer, a fact he hides from nearly everyone until his final moments. His arc moves from paralysis to purpose to sacrifice, and his death becomes the emotional hinge of the novel's ending. For a broader look at how his story fits into the whole, see the book overview and the ending explained.