Character Analysis
Although she is dead throughout this story, Bud's mother plays a major part in Bud's quest to find his father. She has also been a big influence on Bud's approach to living. Momma (as Bud calls her) is a young, black, single mother without family during the Depression in Flint. We can assume things were very hard for her, but since we only know her personality through Bud's memory of her when he was just a little kid, we don't get to see her struggling.
Mother Dearest
Bud remembers a lot of great stuff about Momma. Because he was so young when he knew her, his memories consist of things she did for him, like read him bedtime stories or fold up his clothes for him and leave them beside his bed with a note that might say, "Dear Bud, Please be neater, see you tonight, I love you" (16.3).
Some of Bud's remembers Momma's life lessons particularly well. She tells him what she's learned from her own experiences, and though Bud doesn't always understand what she's talking about, he learns how wise his Momma was as he grows older.
One of the reasons Bud remembers what his mother told him so well is that she used to hold onto his arms and look into his face when she said something important so that he'd remember it (5.34). Bud's mother was definitely looking out for him and teaching him good lessons, so Bud's success in the book is at least partly thanks to her.
Whirlwind
As a young child, Bud didn't understand much about his mother except that she loved him. His mother was kind of mysterious, and she was secretive about her life. We don't get any details or information about what kind of a job she had or who her friends were. Bud does tell us a little about what she was like: "Everything moved very, very fast when Momma was near, she was like a tornado, never resting, always looking around us, never standing still" (5.35). We don't know exactly why Bud's mother was so active: maybe she had to be working and moving around all the time in order to support Bud as a single mother during the Depression.
Roses are Red
Bud's mother is very specific and poetic about the name she picked out for her son. She tells Bud, "A bud is a flower-to-be. A flower-in-waiting. Waiting for just the right warmth and care to open up. It's a little fist of love waiting to unfold and be seen by the world. And that's you" (5.42). By giving Bud such a poetic name, his mother reveals that she is a thoughtful, precise, and sensitive person. She also reveals that she loves Bud very much.