Character Analysis
Gee whiz, lady: complain, complain, complain. She doesn't show up much in the story, making her a fairly minor character, but when she does, it's with the same attitude again and again. Nothing is ever good enough.
One of her basic roles in the story is to complain that, by protecting Nancy, her husband is leaving her open to being attacked:
"You'll leave me alone, to take Nancy home?" mother said. "Is her safety more precious to you than mine?" (1.49)
That adds fear and suspense to the story and reminds us of the racial inequality in Jefferson—a white person such as Mother can take it for granted that they are to be protected, but for a black person such as Nancy, it's an exception.
Her other basic role in the story is to deny Nancy the ability to stay in the children's bedroom, which is what finally drives the black woman to ask the children to come to her house instead. "I can't have Negroes sleeping in the bedrooms" (3.9), the mother declares when Caddy asks permission for Nancy to stay over. Essentially, the mother has kicked Nancy to the curb and told her to fend for herself, no matter what the threat of Jesus is.
She shows up in The Sound and the Fury, by the way, where she keeps up the same whiny attitude.