Mr. Jordan is a secondary character in “Examination Day.” Mr. Jordan is a stereotypical 1950s stand-offish but loving father. As was typical of middle-class white families in the 1950s, Mr. Jordan is the head of the household and exercises authority over his wife and child. However, even his patriarchal authority is ultimately superseded by the authority of the state, i.e., the Government. 

Mr. Jordan is introduced in the narrative through characterization that indicates he is gruff and somewhat impatient. He “sharply” scolds his wife, Mrs. Jordan, when she mentions the exam. Dickie immediately notices “the scowl on his father’s face” (Paragraph 3). When Dickie attempts to engage with his father by asking questions, Mr. Jordan responds shortly and abruptly, with a similarly sharp tone. Instead of embracing his son on his birthday, Dickie “shook hands gravely with his father” (Paragraph 13). Mr. Jordan is not generally an emotionally warm and expressive father.

However, there are early indications that Mr. Jordan’s gruff demeanor is his coping mechanism for dealing with the specter of his son’s possible death. For instance, after snapping at his son, Mr. Jordan “regretted his abruptness” (Paragraph 13), suggesting that his behavior is born out of anxiety rather than dislike for his son. The implication is that if Mr. Jordan gave himself over to his emotions, he would not be able to cope. In this light, Mr. Jordan’s repeated reassurances to Dickie that “you’ll make out fine” (Paragraph 26) are calculated to not only diminish Dickie’s fears but also his own. 

Mr. Jordan’s complex emotional state explains his behavior at the apex of the short story’s action when Dickie is led away to the exam room. He does not say goodbye, embrace Dickie, or otherwise express his fears or sadness. He simply wishes his son “‘good luck’ […] without looking at him” (Paragraph 33). While this might seem cold, it implies that if Mr. Jordan were to acknowledge his fears for his son in that the moment, he would lose his emotional control. It is only in the tragic denouement when he receives the phone call about his son’s death that his heartbreak can be read on his face.

Mrs. Jordan is a secondary character in “Examination Day.” She is Dickie’s mother and Mr. Jordan’s wife. She is a stereotypical 1950s middle-class white woman, who acts as the conduit of emotional expression in the household. Her tears and anxiety at the beginning of the story foreshadow the tragic end of the narrative. The “moisture” in her eyes is registered by Dickie as a sign that something is wrong. She is less capable than her husband of hiding her fear and uncertainty, despite her best efforts. While her husband puts on a stoic façade, the best she can muster is to “compose her face into a misty smile” (Paragraph 24), implying that she still appears sad even as she is trying to put forward a calm demeanor. At the end of the story, she is the only one who expresses the tragedy of the situation as she “crie[s] out” when she realizes that Dickie is dead.