The Sweetness of Water

George is the novel’s protagonist. An aging man with a bad hip that affects his mobility, he was born in Nantucket and brought to Georgia by his parents when he was young. He is passionate, but unskilled. He tries many hobbies, which he eventually abandons as trivial when the results fail to turn out as he planned. He is married to Isabelle in a relationship that is characterized by coldness, "if ever he lacked warmth—which he often did—his unflagging ability to bring her back to port when she strayed into choppy waters was an asset that made up for it many times over” (20).

George decides to stop selling parcels of his land to survive and embarks on developing a patch of forest into a peanut farm. He develops a working and friendly relationship with Prentiss and Landry, brothers who were formerly enslaved by his neighbor Ted Morton. George, lonely and looking for a new beginning, embraces the relationship he has with the two brothers.

George is the balance between Northern and Southern culture following the Civil War. While he is influenced by the South, unlike many of his neighbors he does not see the harm in befriending and helping the freedmen to earn an honest living.