William's Relationships

In Dreamland Burning, William Tillman is a 17-year-old boy in 1921. Several of his relationships play an important role in William's life leading up to and during the racial violence that takes place that spring. William's relationships change, some for the better and some for the worse, as he learns that people have darker natures than he initially believed. Others behave better than he had expected.

William's relationship with his father is the one that changes the most over the weeks leading up to the violence. His father's actions during that terrible night affect their relationship forever. William's mother, Kathryn, sets out to help the family maid and her family when the violence erupts, sending William to bring the family back to the Tillman house. William's father, Stanley, spends most of the day and early evening downtown, watching the unrest growing to the point of outright...