Companion

Character Role Analysis

Weaver Smith

Duh. Mattie directly tells us that Weaver Smith is her best friend. They share common experiences—taking exams for a high school diploma and dreaming of college—and a common love of language and literature that unite the only two people who seek to escape a life of farming and poverty for opportunity in the big city (and, as a woman and a young black man, the two people least likely to even dream of doing so).

Weaver is also the only person who tells Mattie harsh truths when no one else will, stuff like, "Hey, Royal isn't the right person for you," and "Your mom was totes wrong to force you to make that promise." And while Mattie may not appreciate his words in the moment, she knows—and we know—that true friends tell us what we need to hear, not what we want to hear.