Characters Discussed
John Singer
John Singer, a tall, immaculate, soberly dressed mute who mysteriously attracts troubled people to him. He considers Mick pitiful, Jake crazy, Dr. Copeland noble, and Biff thoughtful; they are all welcome to visit or talk to him. Ironically, he himself longs to talk manually to his insane mute friend Spiros in the asylum but cannot penetrate Spiros’ apathy and craving for food. Singer shoots himself, leaving his other four friends variously affected by his death.
Mick Kelly
Mick Kelly, a gangling, adolescent girl always dressed in shorts, a shirt, and tennis shoes until she gets a job in a five-and-ten-cent store. A passionate lover of music, she finds relief from her loneliness by talking to Mr. Singer and listening to his radio. After his death, the loneliness returns, along with a feeling that she has been cheated, but by whom she does not know.
Biff Brannon
Biff Brannon, a café proprietor, a stolid man with a weakness for cripples and sick people and an interest in human relationships. Having watched Mr. Singer with Jake and Mick, he is left after Singer’s death puzzled and wondering whether love is the answer to the problem of the human struggle.
Jake Blount
Jake Blount, a frustrated, idealistic workingman who tries to rouse his fellow workers; a squat man with long, powerful arms. He believes that Mr. Singer is the only one who understands him. After Singer’s death, Jake joins in a free-for-all and later, evading the police, leaves town.
Dr. Benedict Mady Copeland
Dr. Benedict Mady Copeland, the only black physician in town; an idealistic man devoted to raising the standards of his race. Trying to see the judge about Willie, he is severely beaten by white men and jailed but is released on bail. Still sick from the beating, he broods over Singer’s death.
Portia
Portia, his daughter, the Kellys’ maid, a devout Presbyterian who worries over her father’s and Mick’s lack of religious belief.
Willie
Willie, Portia’s brother, sentenced to hard labor for knifing a man. After brutal punishment for an attempted escape, he loses both feet from gangrene.
Spiros Antonapoulos
Spiros Antonapoulos, Mr. Singer’s mute Greek friend, a fat, dreamy, slovenly man who works for his cousin. Spiros is interested in food, sleep, and drink, and sometimes in prayer before sleeping. After becoming insane and a public nuisance as well as a petty thief, he is put into an asylum.
Charles Parker
Charles Parker, Spiros’ cousin, a fruit-store owner, who has taken an American name. Finally fed up with Spiros’ insane actions, he has him committed to the asylum.
Alice
Alice, Biff’s complaining wife, with whom he has little communication.
Highboy
Highboy, Portia’s husband.
Characters
For a decade, John Singer, an expressive deaf-mute, shared a close friendship with Spiro Antonapoulos, a passive and simple-minded individual. However, Spiro unexpectedly falls ill, begins bumping into strangers on the street, urinates in public, and steals. Unable to prevent it, Singer watches as his friend is committed to an asylum. Singer then rents a room at the Kelly house, eats at the local cafe, and unintentionally attracts four new friends.
Mick Kelly, the landlord's twelve-year-old daughter, quickly bonds with Singer and shares her dream of becoming a musician. She brings her phonograph into his room, allowing him to partake in her passion, even though he can't hear the music. Her desire to connect with him through what she loves most touches him, yet it also heightens his awareness of the divide between himself and others.
Singer's other three friendships develop through his regular visits...
(This entire section contains 260 words.)
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to the cafe. Jake Blount, a failed labor leader and radical agitator, finds in Singer the ideal listener—someone who never mocks or argues with him. For Benedict Copeland, a dedicated African American doctor, Singer represents a rare compassionate white man who understands his dreams and frustrations in striving to improve his people's education.
The fourth person drawn to Singer is Biff Brannon, the cafe owner. A thoughtful and curious observer of human behavior, Brannon watches with interest as others gravitate toward the silent Singer, as if he were a savior. Unlike the others, Brannon realizes that no one truly knows Singer, yet each believes he possesses unique insight or wisdom regarding their personal struggles.
Characters
Spiros Antonapoulos
Antonapoulos holds a special place in John Singer's heart, despite scant evidence suggesting he reciprocated Singer's feelings. The first chapter of the book delves into their decade-long relationship, highlighting Antonapoulos's increasingly poor behavior—such as stealing from the restaurant, urinating in public, and being aggressive. Eventually, his only relative, Charles Parker, commits him to a mental institution. For the remainder of the book, Singer longs for his friend's company, even though most of his recollections involve Antonapoulos drinking, stealing money, or otherwise exploiting their friendship.
Jake Blount
In the town, Jake Blount is both feared and ridiculed due to his erratic behavior, which is illustrated by the two distinct outfits he owns: the pristine white linen suit he wore upon arrival and the dirty overalls he donned during a twelve-day drinking binge. Despite being educated and compassionate, with a strong interest in social equality and a willingness to fight for others' rights, his passion is often overshadowed by his frequent drunkenness, making his anger and symbolic actions seem foolish. For example, during his first encounter with Dr. Copeland, Blount, intoxicated, drags the doctor into a cafe, flouting the segregation laws that prohibited black men from drinking in white establishments. However, Dr. Copeland, expecting a medical emergency, is instead pulled into a situation where the drunk tries to buy him a drink, leading to a moment where Biff observes the doctor looking at Blount with "a look of quivering hatred." Once sober, Blount secures a job as a mechanic at a carnival, working on the carousel, known as the "flying-jinny." He's well-versed in revolutionary literature and Marxism, and during visits to Singer's room, he brings alcohol and spends most of the night discussing his ideas for liberating the working class. When asked by Biff about his ideal historical period, he chooses 1775, likely to engage in the American Revolution. Upon learning of Willie Copeland's brutal treatment in prison, Blount insists on visiting him, claiming he can help. There, he tells a lengthy, intricate tale about labor struggles and factory ownership, but it ends in a clash with the doctor, culminating in them hurling racial insults at each other. Blount writes theories, treatises, and manifestos with titles like "The Affinity Between Our Democracy and Fascism," distributing them throughout the town. Following Singer's suicide, Blount feels abandoned and hollow, and then disaster strikes: despite his efforts toward racial harmony, he becomes involved in a race riot at the carnival. He decides to leave town and is last seen navigating the cramped, decaying tenements on the town's outskirts: "There was one thing clear. There was hope in him, and soon perhaps the outline of his journey would take form."
Bartholomew Brannon
See Biff Brannon
Biff Brannon
Initially, Brannon does not appear as the most serene and satisfied character in the novel. At the outset, he is heavily invested in managing the New York Cafe, ensuring it operates around the clock. His marriage to Alice, spanning twenty-one years, seems strained. Their schedules rarely align, with her sleeping during his work hours and vice versa. When together, they often bicker over his approach to customer service; Alice believes he is too generous with food and drinks to peculiar patrons like Blount. “I like freaks,” Brannon asserts. Alice retorts, “I just reckon you certainly ought to, Mister Brannon, being as you’re one yourself.” Reflecting on this exchange, Biff acknowledges his “special friendly feeling for sick people and cripples” without pride or shame. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Biff identifies as androgynous, feeling a blend of both masculine and feminine traits, which may explain his lack of interest in intimacy with Alice. Despite his large and imposing appearance, he wears his mother’s wedding ring on his pinky, uses perfume, and arranges decorative baskets with a keen sense of color and design. When his sister visits with her daughter, she tells him, “Bartholomew, you’d make a mighty good mother,” and he graciously accepts the compliment. In the solitude of his cellar, Biff dreams of adopting two children, a boy and a girl, though he envisions raising them alone. Elsewhere in the novel, he muses on “the part of him that sometimes wished he was a mother and that Mick and Baby were his kids.” Singer, writing to a friend, observes that Biff “is not like the others…. He watches. The others all have something they hate. And they all have something they love more than eating or sleeping or friendly company.” Some critics argue that Brannon, rather than Singer, serves as the novel's moral compass, embodying principles of love and acceptance. Like the others, he is deeply affected by Singer’s passing. The novel concludes with him seated in the New York Cafe, occupying his thoughts with crossword puzzles and flower arrangements while awaiting customers.
Doctor Benedict Copeland
Doctor Copeland, an African American man, grew up in the South but received his education in the North. This background allows him to recognize the shameful racism in the town more clearly than others. He is well-regarded by his patients, many of whom have named their children after him, yet he holds little respect for them. He believes that most townspeople, including his own children, are letting themselves be exploited, and he disapproves of actions, even friendly ones, that make his race appear lazy or weak. The doctor struggles to connect with others. When his daughter points out that his manner of speaking is hurtful, he responds, “I am not interested in subterfuges. I am only interested in the truth.” At a family gathering, he isolates himself, brooding and feeling ashamed when his father-in-law depicts God as “a large white man’s face with a white beard and blue eyes.” Doctor Copeland feels a stronger connection to books than to people. He reads works by Spinoza, Thorstein Veblen, and Karl Marx, after whom he named one of his sons (the son prefers the name “Buddy,” just as his son William is called “Willie”). When Willie is tortured in jail and loses his feet to amputation, Dr. Copeland visits a judge he knows. However, he is intercepted in the courthouse by a deputy sheriff who insults, accuses, and beats him, eventually arresting him and placing him in a cell with the very lower-class African Americans he has tried to avoid. After his release and a night of drinking and conversation with Jake Blount, Dr. Copeland and Jake start devising plans to raise awareness about societal injustices. Dr. Copeland grows frustrated with Jake’s lengthy plan and insists on immediate, forceful street meetings. Their debate escalates and devolves into racial slurs. Ultimately, Dr. Copeland, too ill with tuberculosis to care for himself, is taken to his father-in-law’s farm. He rides in a wagon loaded with his belongings (his alternative was to sit on his son’s lap), feeling that his mission remains unfulfilled and still yearning for justice.
Willie Copeland
Willie serves as the cook at the New York Cafe and is acquainted with all the primary characters. His father is Dr. Benedict Copeland, and his sister is Portia. One evening, while Willie and his brother-in-law, Highboy, are drinking at a venue known as Madame Reba’s Palace of Sweet Pleasure, Willie dances with a girl, which angers her boyfriend and leads to a fight. In self-defense, Willie uses a razor, severely injuring the man, and as a result, he is sentenced to nine months in prison. During his imprisonment, Willie is confined in a freezing shed and suspended by his feet from a rope. After enduring three days in this condition, he develops gangrene and has to undergo amputation of his feet.
Portia Jones
Portia is the daughter of Dr. Copeland and the only one of his four children who visits him. Her three brothers are often reminded of their father's disappointment, as he wished for them to become a scientist, a teacher, and a lawyer to uplift their race. Portia is married to Highboy, and they live together with her brother Willie. She explains to her father, “You see—us have our own way of living and our own plan. Highboy—he pay the rent. I buys all the food out of my money. And Willie—he tends to all of our church dues, insurance, lodge dues and Saturday Night. Us three haves our own plan and each one of us does our parts.” Portia also works as the housekeeper at the Kelly boarding house, where Mick sometimes confides in her. When Willie is imprisoned, Portia faithfully writes to him, and when he returns home disabled, she is heartbroken. However, unlike her father, she does not believe there is a way to seek justice.
Bubber Kelly
At the start of the story, Bubber is Mick's younger brother, who follows her around all summer. One day, a neighborhood boy brings over a rifle inherited from his deceased father. Bubber takes the rifle, points it at a neighbor girl, and after repeatedly commenting on her cuteness, he fires the gun. The main rift between Bubber and Mick occurs when she visits his hiding spot and, to teach him a lesson, warns him that the police will arrest him: “They got electric chairs there—just your size. And when they turn on the juice you fry up just like a piece of burnt bacon. Then you go to Hell.” This terrifies Bubber more than Mick anticipated, causing him to become distant from her. Following the shooting incident, he no longer goes by Bubber but uses his real name, George.
George Kelly
See Bubber Kelly
Mick Kelly
Mick is a character who closely resembles the author, having grown up in a Southern town throughout the novel. She is first introduced in an extended chapter that gathers all the characters in the café. Mick is described as a "gangling, towheaded youngster, a girl of about twelve … dressed in khaki shorts, a blue shirt, and tennis shoes—so that at first glance she was like a very young boy." When her older sister criticizes her attire, Mick retorts, "I’d rather be a boy any day." Despite this youthful appearance, Mick has come to the café to buy cigarettes. During the summer, Mick is responsible for taking care of her younger brothers, Bubber and Ralph, and is often seen with them. Ralph is still very young and should ideally be pushed around in a stroller or carriage, but the Kelly family cannot afford such luxuries. Instead, Mick secures him in an old wagon to prevent him from falling out. Mick has a deep love for music; she stops to listen whenever she hears a radio playing, whether in a boarding house or while passing by someone's home. In times of emotional turmoil, she knows exactly which yard to visit to hear music. Early in the story, Mick attempts to create her own violin using a broken, plastered ukulele body, a violin bridge, and strings from a violin, guitar, and banjo. However, when her older brother Bill, whom she admires, tells her it won't work, she abandons the project in frustration. Although Mick's family responsibilities limit her social circle, she is not an outcast. She hosts a party for her new classmates at the technical school, wearing a dress and makeup for the first time to demonstrate her sophistication, and it is moderately successful. However, she feels let down when the unkempt neighborhood kids she wants to distance herself from attend the party and mix with her new friends. Like the other main characters, Mick visits Singer’s room to discuss her issues. Even though Singer cannot hear the radio in his room, Mick listens to it during her visits. Ultimately, she sacrifices her dream of pursuing a music career to work at Woolworth’s. After Singer's death, she acknowledges that this job is not a temporary solution but signifies a shift in her character: “But now no music was in her mind. It was like she was shut out from the inside room…. It was like she was too tense. Or maybe because it was like the store took all her energy and time.” She tries to reassure herself that she will return to music, but her attempts to convince herself are unconvincing and repetitive.
Harry Minowitz
Harry, who grew up next to the Kelly boarding house, takes a job at the cafe while attending vocational school. One summer afternoon, he and Mick go swimming, which leads to a sexual encounter. Instead of returning home afterward, he tells Mick he's leaving town, saying, “If I stayed home, mother could read this in my eyes.” Mick later confirms his departure when Mrs. Minowitz calls, asking about his whereabouts.
Simms
Simms, a sidewalk preacher, captures Jake Blount’s attention and acts as his conscience. Simms offers to guide Jake toward religion but retreats upon seeing the scar Jake inflicted on himself by driving a nail through his hand. As Jake departs, Simms calls him a blasphemer and warns that God will punish him. Later, when Jake is troubled by Singer’s death, he approaches Simms again, proposing to attract people to Simms’ religious gathering by drawing images of “some good-looking naked floozies” on the sidewalk to lead them there. Simms is incensed and hurls insults at Jake, yet still instructs him to return at “seven-fifteen sharp” to hear God’s message.
John Singer
While Singer is not the main character in the novel, he plays a pivotal role in the lives of those around him. As a deaf mute, he must closely observe people when they speak, and this intense focus, coupled with their ability to speak openly without interruption, leads them to believe he truly comprehends and cares for them. However, the only person Singer genuinely cares about is Antonapoulos, a fellow deaf mute with whom he lived for a decade. Antonapoulos never showed any more understanding of Singer than Singer does of Mick, Dr. Copeland, Blount, or Brannon when they discuss their lives. Singer uses his life savings to cover up Antonapoulos's minor thefts and destructive behavior. When Antonapoulos is committed to a mental institution, Singer feels so isolated that he moves into the Kelly boarding house, explaining that “he could no longer stand the rooms where Antonapoulos had lived.” None of his town acquaintances know about Antonapoulos, and when Singer takes time off to visit him at the asylum, they eagerly await his return. Singer's thoughts on this attention are revealed in a letter he writes to the Greek, where he describes them all: “They are all very busy people,” he notes. “I do not mean that they work at their jobs all day and night but that they have much business in their minds that does not let them rest.” The letter further explains that he does not enjoy their company as they believe, but harbors feelings ranging from mild approval of Mick (“She likes music. I wish I knew what it is she hears.”) to disdain for Blount (“The one with the moustache I think is crazy.”) At the letter's end, he unironically delves into his own fixation, detailing exactly how many days have passed since he and Antonapoulos were last together: “All of that time I have been alone without you. The only thing I can imagine is when I will be with you again.” Upon visiting his friend and learning of his death, Singer spends half a day in a daze before taking a pistol from the jewelry store where he works and ending his life.