Ayah

Ayah is the central character and narrator of the story. In the present timeline, she is an elderly woman reminiscing about her past: memories of her grandmother weaving outside, the birth of her first child, the death of her son Jimmie in the war, and the heart-wrenching loss of her two young children, taken away by white doctors. Ayah also remembers her husband, Chato, who often acted as a mediator in her important interactions with white authorities due to his ability to speak English. In the current events of the story, Ayah ventures out to find Chato, who has not yet returned home for the evening. She searches for him at the bar, his usual haunt on days when he cashes their modest assistance check, but he is not there. Leaving the bar, she eventually finds him walking home. They pause to rest, and Chato lies down in the snow. Realizing he is near death, Ayah wraps a blanket around him and sings a lullaby taught to her by her grandmother.

Chato

Chato is Ayah's husband and plays a crucial role as he speaks English, unlike Ayah. This makes him the intermediary in their dealings with white authority figures. When officials arrive to deliver the tragic news of their son Jimmie's death in the war, it is Chato who must convey this to Ayah. Chato works for a white rancher who shows no compassion when he suffers a leg injury on the job. When white doctors and later BIA police come to take their two young children, it is Chato who explains to Ayah that she had unknowingly signed them away. Ayah holds him responsible for the loss of their children and stops sharing a bed with him from that point forward. In the present time of the story, Chato, now an old man, sometimes gets confused and starts walking towards the ranch as if he still worked there. On the days their assistance check arrives, he cashes it and heads to the bar. After Ayah finds him walking in the snow, Chato lies down to rest. He dies as Ayah sings him a lullaby.

Danny

Danny is the young son of Ayah and Chato, who is taken away from them by white doctors.

The Doctors

White doctors arrive to take Ayah and Chato's children away after they contract tuberculosis from their grandmother. They pressure Ayah into signing a document that grants them permission to permanently remove the children. Despite not understanding what she is signing, Ayah complies out of fear and a desire to make them leave. When the doctors attempt to take the children, Ayah grabs them and flees to the hills. The doctors abandon the chase but return later with a police officer, ultimately taking the children. After this, Ayah rarely sees them again.

Ella

Ella is the young daughter of Ayah and Chato who is taken away by the white doctors.

Grandmother

Ayah's grandmother does not appear in the story's present timeline but is remembered through Ayah's memories. Ayah recalls her grandmother spinning yarn from wool and sharing traditional songs. The grandmother symbolizes the generational link in their matrilineal culture, where women pass down traditions through stories. When Chato is dying, Ayah sings him a lullaby that her grandmother used to sing to her.

Jimmie

Jimmie was Ayah's first-born child. He died in a helicopter crash during the war, and a white man delivered the news to the family. The army blanket Ayah wraps around herself at the story's beginning, and around her dying husband Chato at the end, was sent to her by Jimmie...

Storytelling plays a pivotal role in Native American culture, a theme that permeates all of Silko's work. "Lullaby" is part of a collection that focuses on translating the oral tradition of storytelling into written English. While Ayah, the elderly protagonist, does not narrate her story to another character, the narrative is built on her reflections, functioning as a form of internal storytelling. This written piece mirrors the structure of an oral tale by intertwining past memories and present events through associations rather than a strict chronological sequence.

Beyond emphasizing the oral tradition, Silko's writing also explores how Native American customs can be adapted to modern life. Her characters often find themselves torn between traditional and contemporary lifestyles. In "Lullaby," Ayah recalls traditional practices such as her mother weaving blankets on an outdoor loom while her grandmother spun wool into yarn. This memory surfaces when Ayah uses an old army blanket sent by her son Jimmie from the war. Observing her worn shoes in the snow, she remembers the warm buckskin moccasins once worn by Native Americans. During her husband's final moments, Ayah resorts to singing a traditional lullaby taught by her grandmother. The story suggests that such traditions hold significant value, even in the face of modern challenges.

The narrative spans from the loss of Ayah's children to the death of her husband, focusing primarily on the significant losses in her life. The strong sense of nostalgia conveys a deep sorrow over the loss of traditional culture and the personal pain of losing her children. While Ayah had previously lost two infants to natural causes and found solace in burying them near her home, losing her other children to white authorities proved more traumatic. Her first child, Jimmie, died in a helicopter crash during the war, and with his body likely burned, Ayah was denied the chance to mourn traditionally. Later, she loses her two young children, Danny and Ella, to white doctors who coerce her into signing an agreement allowing them to take the children to a sanitarium. The story reaches its culmination with the death of her husband, Chato, who lies down in the snow as Ayah realizes he is dying. Through this narrative, Silko examines how storytelling can heal and transform experiences of both personal and cultural loss.