He has His Father’s eyes

The expression “He has His Father’s eyes” is Roman Castevet’s answer to Rosemary Woodhouse’s alarm at her son’s appearance. It recasts a visible feature as evidence of Andrew John Woodhouse’s supernatural paternity, making the familiar language of family resemblance the means by which Roman declares that Satan, not Guy Woodhouse, is the child’s father.

The Expression in Context

Rosemary approaches the black bassinet and sees Andrew wrapped in a black blanket, with black mitts tied around his wrists. When he opens his eyes, she sees that they are entirely golden-yellow, with vertical black-slit pupils. She turns from the child toward the watching adults and demands to know what has been done to his eyes. Roman answers with the expression, presenting the extraordinary feature as an inheritance rather than an injury or alteration.

Meaning and Revelation

Rosemary initially understands Roman’s words as a reference to Guy. She objects that Guy’s eyes are brown and normal, and asks what the group has done to the child. Roman corrects her: Satan is the father, not Guy. His explanation makes the possessive “His” a declaration of divine lineage, while “eyes” points to the unmistakable bodily sign before them. He further identifies the child as Adrian, joining the phrase to the coven’s account of his identity and purpose.

Narrative Function

The expression transforms a question about appearance into a disclosure about parentage. Its plain, almost domestic wording briefly resembles an ordinary observation about a child’s resemblance to a parent; Roman’s explanation gives that convention a radically different meaning. The phrase also marks the decisive gap between Rosemary’s interpretation and the coven’s: she sees a child whose eyes have been changed, while Roman treats them as proof of who the child’s father is. In this scene, family language becomes the vehicle for the group’s supernatural claim.