Character Analysis
The Determined Realist
Bono is exactly what young Octavian needs because he's the guy who delivers some much-needed reality about being a slave. Since Octavian didn't always know he's been enslaved, he's in need of a crash course of sorts in how to survive as a young black man in a white man's world—and Bono's here to save the day. Check out when he tells Octavian never to leave the house without a note stating who Octavian belongs to:
[Bono] held out the written pass. "This is what they want us to be," he said. "They want us to be nothing but a bill of sale and a letter explaining where we is and instructions for where we go and what we do. They want us empty. They want us flat as paper. They want to be able to carry our souls in their hands, and read them out loud in court. All the time, they're on the exploration of themselves, going on the inner journey into their own breast. But us, they want there to be nothing inside of. They want us to be writ on. They want us to be a surface. Look at me; I'm mahogany." (2.5.18)
No one can pull the wool over Bono's eyes—he knows how the world works, and it definitely doesn't bend in favor of the slaves—and he recognizes the importance of sharing this information with Octavian. Mr. Gitney might have been content to fill Octavian's head with a classical education, but the rest of the world will expect very specific—and different—things from the boy.
Bono isn't one to sit still and wait for things to work out. Nope—he's going to make things happen. As he tells Octavian, right before Bono's sent to Virginia, "'Next time we meet… I'll have a different name'" (2.19.9). And sure enough, after Octavian makes his escape, he learns that Bono has done the very same thing himself.
Mr. Compassionate
Bono doesn't just clue Octavian into some key information about slavery, though—he also care and sympathy for Octavian. For instance, after Lord Cheldthorpe's men whip Octavian and Octavian's back is too bloody to wear a shirt, Bono "picked up the shirt and put it in my hands. 'You can slip it on,' he said. 'You want, you can slip it on'" (2.1.8). It is a tender and humanizing gesture, one that tells Octavian that Bono sees the boy beneath all the blood and gashes.
And when Octavian continues to cry and freak out, especially over the fact that he couldn't weigh his poop when he was locked up in the ice-house by Lord Cheldthorpe's men, Bono "came and he put his hand upon [Octavian's] cheek so my skull was against his palm; and he said, 'Prince, [Mr. Gitney] don't care today. There ain't any measuring happening today. No samples'" (2.1.14). He could have laughed at the boy or told him to quit acting like he's special (not everyone's poop gets weighed, after all), but instead he reassures him.
No wonder Octavian considers Bono something like a brother or a father (2.18.15)—Bono is the closest to either of these things for Octavian, especially after Mr. Sharpe enters the picture.
The Negotiator
But Bono isn't perfect. In opposition to his full name—Pro Bono—Bono makes sure he gets what he wants in exchange for a service. He may have been gotten for free when his mother was purchased while pregnant with him, but that doesn't mean he's doling out favors for nothing. So when he offers Octavian any of the books from the library after Mr. Sharpe has banned Octavian from going there, he only does so on the condition that Octavian reads pornographic material (written in Latin) to Bono.
Octavian doesn't like the whole deal—in fact, it makes him "[burn] with shame at [his] complicity" (2.8.28)—but he goes through with it because "there was no way out of this arrangement, should [he] wish to continue [his] education" (2.8.28). Bono backs Octavian into a bit of a corner—the kid absolutely loves to learn, and takes great pride in his education—and he doesn't seem to hesitate in the least about wielding power over the kid.
Would a real friend do this to Octavian? We're not sure. We think it's important to consider, though, that unlike someone like Mr. Sharpe, Bono is enslaved—and this means that he has severely limited chances to get what he wants for himself from the world. It might seem like accessing porn is pretty trivial, but when we remember how few creature comforts slaves are allowed, it seems potentially less malicious—and more self-realizing—when Bono tricks Octavian into helping him out. But what do you think?