Character Analysis
Poor old Daddy. Mr. Lightfoot is a construction worker trying to make a living during the Great Depression. We know he's great at his job, and that he helped big the George Washington Bridge, which Cassie describes as "the longest and most beautiful bridge in the world." (7) Come to think of it, that's probably why Cassie likes that bridge so much.
Cassie loves her dad big time; that's why, in her imagination, she fixes all his problems. She celebrates him in the story, remembering all the good times before he left his family.
Yeah, you heard us right. Daddy left. We think.
Disappearing Act
The thing is, Daddy's disappearance happens so fast you could almost miss it. Cassie drops the bombshell and immediately retreats into her fantasies, where he's still very much around. You know how, in the middle of the winter, you might daydream about swimming in ocean on a hot day? That's sort of what Cassie is doing now that her Daddy's gone. She's dreaming about the good times at Tar Beach to help her get through the tough times that her family is experiencing now.
Now, we know that Daddy leaving isn't a good thing, otherwise Mommy wouldn't cry so much. (Also, even though Cassie doesn't say much about how she feels, we know she must miss him.) There are no traces of anger or bitterness in the story, so we know Cassie has good feelings about her dad. That helps us as readers feel sympathy for his situation. Remember, Daddy was trying to make a living during the Great Depression. (Key word: depression.) It wasn't the Great Happiness or the Great Picnic or even the Great Pumpkin. Times were tough.
And times were doubly tough if you were a Black man. Cassie mentions that Daddy can't get a job because the union denies him membership…on the grounds that his father wasn't in the union before him. This sounds a little fishy—most likely what happened is that the union denied him membership because of racism, and then cooked up a convenient "no heritage, no membership" line.
Of course, Cassie doesn't reflect on this in her childlike state. She just does what any good daughter would do and buy's the union building for her dear old dad…in her imagination, at least.