I'm not sure what needs asking or saying, so, I'll state/ask a few things and hope I get close to a target that makes sense.
(We are probably missing something very simple, so don't let the amount of text below mislead or scare you.
)
* In adult computer games, using quotation marks on a character often means that person is
something understood but not stated--so "landlady and her tenants" actually means "your mother and your sisters" but the game has been censored. (This is one meaning of my "fiancee" and "friends" references.)
* What is so strange, alien, or abnormal that this
grandfather is refered to in quotation marks? The quotation marks may refer to a title or pseudo-role that other people don't agree with--like Quentin Tarantino is a "family-friendly film director", Joseph Stalin was the "father of the Soviet peoples", Charles Manson was "just a friendly neighbour", etc. (Your story's "grandfather" might be a space alien that grows and harvests humans as livestock, for example.)
* The quotation marks imply a
non-standard meaning that the language can not communicate effectively (
unlike standard words and phrases like step-mother, foster-mother, grandmother, godmother, mother-in-law, etc.). So a non-standard "grandfather/mother" might be: a respected elder-leader of the community; or a religious leader; or a person who participated in a particular social event or crisis; or a healer, oracle, or other cultural role; or the eldest patriarch/matriarch of an extended family (or a group that isn't actually a family!); or a designer, creator, or master of a craft; or a statesman or woman; and/or etc. (This is an alternative meaning of my question ... Because your story has a "grandfather",
should your main character have: friends or "friends", a fiancee or a "fiancee", is he going home or "going home", etc.?)
Have I hit anywhere near a target that helps you/us understand where our (possible) misunderstandings might be?
e-d