The domineering patriarch and town's dominant landowner. He manipulates events to push Ben and Clara together to secure his bloodline, exposes Jody's financial deception, and ultimately defuses a lynch mob while accepting his son's changed behavior.
Will uses his wealth and authority to elevate Ben.
Will comes to admire Ben's ruthlessness and ambition, offers to make him wealthy if he marries Clara, and invites him to live in the family mansion.
Their long-standing affair creates domestic pressure for Will.
Minnie is described as Will's longtime mistress, and she becomes dissatisfied with their informal arrangement and wants to marry him.
Will is Clara's domineering father and actively directs her romantic future.
The plot identifies Clara as Will's daughter and shows him trying to secure the continuation of his bloodline through her marriage.
Explore the full interactive character relationship map of The Long, Hot Summer