Character Analysis
Picture Dr. Brown in Back to the Future, and you're getting close to Violet's dad. Titus thinks he looks like a "crank" (28.7), and regards him as an "insane psychopath" (29.8). Titus says "insane psychopath"; we say old-school professor (way, way old-school!) who teaches "dead languages" like BASIC and FORTAN—computer programming languages). Sadly, there's not too much call for this subject (weird, right?), so he doesn't have a lot of money.
For a computer geek, Violet's dad is also pretty low-tech. He has an old version of the feed from before they were implanted in people's heads, consisting of "a big backpack" that he has to lug around strapped to his back, with "special glasses that had foldout screens on either side of your eyes" (28.7). If you picture Google Glass, along with a desktop computer strapped to your back, you're probably not too far off from what his rig looks like. Not too cool, Dr. Durn.
Good Day, Sir!
Just to make him even weirder, Violet's dad speaks a fancier version of English than anyone else in the book. (Mad SAT skills.) Check out what he says to Titus: "I am filled with astonishment at the regularity of your features and the handsome generosity you have shown my daughter" (28.8).
This language has the same effect on Titus as it would if someone came up to you and started thee-ing and thou-ing. So why does he go around effectively spouting Shakespeare at high-tech teens? Well, Violet says he thinks language has been degraded, and this is his way of fighting back—by making it as complex and orotund as possible. Like Violet's form of resistance, though, it might be more alienating than impressive.
Daddy's Girl
One big plus: this guy's all about his daughter. He wanted her to have all the advantages possible for her to succeed in the world, which means that he gets her the feed against his better judgment. See, at a job interview he saw some men m-chatting to each other, being all jerky and snotty because he didn't have the feed. Shocker: he didn't get the job. Double shocker: he doesn't want Violet to experience the same sort of discrimination.
Okay, sure, it turns out to be kind of a bad move. But Violet lucked out with her dad. He's very protective, getting all up in Titus' face at the end of the book and forcing him to face up to his cruelty. In the end, Violet's dad is the only parent we see who acts like an actual parent with genuine love and affection for his child.
Too bad he's the one whose child dies.