Character Analysis

This five-year-old boy can be a major brat. You know, like most five year olds.

Besides demanding chocolate cake, he spits out questions about who is or isn't a "nigger" (2.27), heightening our sense of the racial inequality in Jefferson that puts Nancy at risk.

At the end of the story, he towers over the rest of the family, as if being a brat is all the white folks can do when confronted with Nancy's terror.

Of course, he's also on the receiving end of Caddy's taunts about being scared. So we suppose he doesn't have everything in the world his way. But yup, he's a typically brat-tastic five year old.

And if you think he's bad in this story, check out how awful he is in The Sound and the Fury.