Character Clues

Character Analysis

Speech and Dialogue

This is a story filled with dialogue. The conversations the characters have let us know who they are. For example, take a look at this very expressive line of Nancy's:

"I ain't nothing but a n***** [...] It ain't none of my fault." (1.29)

Those simple twelve words tell us so much about her: that she feels she can be reduced to her skin color, that her skin color is responsible for her plight, that she feels despairing and helpless.

Compare her despair to the five-year-old brat Jason calling shots:

"I didn't have fun [...] You hurt me. You put smoke in my eyes. I'm going to tell." (4.52)

A few well-chosen words of dialogue are sometimes all an author needs to tell us who the characters in a story are… if the author is as masterful as ol' Faulkner.

Physical Appearances

When you think of Jesus in this story, you may well picture his striking physical appearance. He may be a "short black man" (1.5), but he's got a "razor scar on his black face like a piece of dirty string" (1.15). You can tell that he's pretty fearsome when he wants to be—and his character, as it turns out, is primarily there to be spooky.

Meanwhile, Nancy's plight is visible in her physical appearance: her teeth are missing from Mr. Stovall kicking them out rather than paying her (1.12), and her pregnant belly swells out "like a little balloon" (1.14). This also shows her character well: she's been badly mistreated, and this mistreatment lays a foundation for all of her action.

Family Life

The roles characters play in the family say a great deal about who they are. We see that the black servant Dilsey cooks and takes that job seriously:

"If I had been a day later, this place would be to rack and ruin. Get on out of here now, and let me get my kitchen straight again." (2.14)

That establishes her as someone crucial to keeping the family going on a daily basis. Another example is Quentin. At nine, he's the most trusted of the three children. That's why he's asked to check on Nancy (1.24) and why he's the one who might be asked to stay at home to guard his mother (1.55).

This is the story of a family—how Nancy helps them but they don't help her—and so the role each member plays in the family is quite significant.