Characters
Bert
See Robert Lewis
Mr. Fred Higgins
Fred Higgins, a local politician, is a friend of Colonel Norwood and subscribes to the belief in white racial superiority. Higgins warns Norwood that Robert has been causing disturbances in town and cautions that Robert’s actions could lead to his death. He also condemns Norwood’s relationship with Cora, stating that while it is acceptable to have sexual relations with her, living with her as he has been is disgraceful. Unlike Norwood, Higgins manages his African American workers with strict control.
Cora Lewis
Cora Lewis is the African American housekeeper and mistress of Colonel Tom Norwood, with whom she has four surviving mixed-race children. Cora met Norwood at the age of fifteen when he first had sexual relations with her. After Norwood’s wife passed away, Cora, already pregnant with William, moved into the Big House on Norwood’s plantation and has lived with him like a wife for thirty years. Cora accepts her new life without resistance, which sometimes leads Norwood to treat her and their mixed-race children more kindly than other African Americans on the plantation. Consequently, Cora strives to maintain peace in the household, suppresses her feelings, and does whatever is necessary to secure the best life for her children. While most of her children conform to this way of living, Robert does not.
Initially, Cora criticizes Robert for his behavior and fears that his actions might endanger the entire family. Throughout the play, she makes futile attempts to mediate the conflict between Robert and Norwood. She first pleads with Norwood to be lenient with Robert and then urges Robert to show respect to Norwood. Despite her efforts, she ultimately fails to prevent Robert from killing Norwood. This act, along with the prolonged suppression of her own emotions, drives Cora to insanity. She converses with Norwood’s corpse as if he were still alive and refuses to accept that he is in the undertaker’s wagon, despite others’ attempts to convince her. Even after Norwood’s body is taken away, Cora imagines him as part of the mob pursuing the fleeing Robert. Through her dialogues with Norwood’s corpse and the empty air, the audience realizes that Cora has never been content with Norwood’s refusal to acknowledge his paternity and his mistreatment of their children. She curses the deceased Norwood and questions why God has abandoned her, given her efforts to live righteously. In the end, she witnesses Robert running upstairs to kill himself and tells herself and the arriving mob that her boy has gone to sleep.
Robert Lewis
Robert Lewis is the youngest mixed-race son of Cora Lewis and Colonel Thomas Norwood. His actions ignite the central conflict in the play, leading to Norwood's murder and Robert's subsequent suicide. Known as "Bert" by his mother, Robert has always exhibited both the physical traits and the determined nature of his father, Norwood. As a child, he was Norwood's favored mixed-race child until he publicly referred to Norwood as his father in front of prominent white individuals. This led to a severe beating from Norwood, an event that left a lasting impression on Robert. Norwood then sent Robert away to school for six years to keep him at a distance. However, this decision backfired. Educated away from the plantation, Robert returned with a strong sense of self-worth, making it impossible for him to be as submissive as the other African Americans working for Norwood.
Robert's confidence and self-esteem, qualities rare among many African Americans of the time, often landed him in trouble. When a C.O.D. order arrived damaged at the town post office, Robert argued with the...
(This entire section contains 1164 words.)
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white woman at the counter to get his money back. This incident, seen as scandalous by the white community, further strained his relationship with Norwood. Robert exacerbated the tension by refusing to use the back door of the house like the other African Americans and by driving faster than white men like Higgins. Ultimately, Robert's behavior, driven by his desire to embrace his white heritage over his African American roots, led to a fatal confrontation with Norwood. Norwood pulled a gun on Robert, but Robert overpowered him and choked him to death. Realizing the gravity of his actions, Robert fled from the inevitable mob. Unable to escape town, he returned to Norwood's house and shot himself before the mob could capture and lynch him.
Sallie Lewis
Sallie Lewis, the seventeen-year-old mixed-race daughter of Cora Lewis and Colonel Norwood, is so light-skinned that she could pass for white. At the play's onset, Sallie leaves to catch her train for the semester at school. While she aspires to be a teacher, Norwood insists she will become a cook like her older sister. Sallie, along with her mother and others, deceives Norwood by claiming she is learning cooking and sewing at school, whereas she is actually studying typing.
William Lewis
William Lewis, the eldest mixed-race son of Cora Lewis and Colonel Norwood, has a dark complexion like his mother. At twenty-eight, William is content being a field hand and has no aspirations beyond that. He has a family, including a son named Billy, and he simply wishes to live a peaceful life. Consequently, William is both concerned and frustrated by Robert's actions, which provoke Norwood and stir up trouble in town. This tension leads to a near-fight between William and Robert, which Cora intervenes to stop. In the play's conclusion, after Robert kills Norwood, William, like many other African Americans on the plantation, plans to seek refuge in the local church or leave town altogether.
Colonel Thomas Norwood
Colonel Thomas Norwood is a sixty-year-old Southern plantation owner and the father of Cora Lewis’s four surviving mixed-race children. A widower with a quick temper, he frequently directs his anger at his personal servant, Sam, or his mistress, Cora. Despite his harshness, Norwood treats his African American workers better than most plantation owners, especially his mixed-race children. Although he never acknowledges them as his offspring, he does attempt to support them by sending them to school. His relationship with Robert, however, becomes his downfall. Robert, being educated, refuses to bow to Norwood's authority, which infuriates him. When Norwood hears from his friend, Fred Higgins, that Robert has been causing disturbances in town and identifying Norwood as his father, he becomes enraged. Concerned about his reputation, especially since Cora has been his only lover since his wife’s death—a relationship frowned upon by Southern white society—Norwood demands a conversation with Robert. The discussion escalates, and Norwood draws a gun on Robert. However, Robert disarms him and strangles him to death.
Sam
Sam, Colonel Norwood’s personal servant, prefers to maintain the status quo. At the outset, Sam is among those who notice Robert’s bold behavior and worries about its impact on his own life. However, by the end, Sam overcomes his fear and realizes that with Norwood dead, he is free to leave the plantation.
