Colin Borsheim Cast of Characters

Most significant Character:  Janie Mae Crawford, Tea Cake, Jody Starks, Logan Killicks, and Pheoby Watson.

Medium significant Characters: Nanny Crawford, Mr. and Mrs. Turner, Sam Watson 

Minor Characters: Amos Hicks, Mr. and Mrs. Washburn, Johnny Taylor, and Nunkie.

                        

Janie: She is the protagonist of the story. She is black and has a mixed ancestry, and sometimes dresses like a boy. She is very curious and confident. She is mature in that she can realize that others are being cruel to her.

Tea Cake: He is Janie’s third husband and the first true one. Even though he is twelve years younger than Janie, he impresses her with his zest for living. He treats Janie with respect and doesn’t make her be anything she doesn’t want to be although he has once stolen from Janie and also beaten her once.

Jody Starks: He is Janie’s second husband. He travels from Georgia to Eatonville to try and gain power. He is a consummate politician and a businessman. He becomes the postmaster, mayor, storekeeper, and biggest landlord in Eatonville. Their marriage ends however, because he treats Janie as an object rather than a person.

Logan Killicks: He is Janie’s first husband. Nanny arranges Janie’s marriage to Logan because she values financial security and respectability over love. Logan does everything for Janie for a year before he tries to make her help him with the farming work. Janie doesn’t feel true love between them and feels that she never will so she leaves him for Jody Starks.

Pheoby Watson:  Janie’s best friend in Eatonville. Pheoby sides with Janie when the townspeople gossip about Janie. She is always there for Janie and her presence is felt in the colloquial speech that the narrator mixes.

Nanny Crawford: Janie’s grandmother that is a former slave. Her experience developed her worldview with a strong concern for financial security, respectability, and upward mobility. This worldview coincides with Janie’s independence and desire to experience the world, but Janie comes to respect Nanny’s values and decisions.

Mr. and Mrs. Turner: Everglades’s residents who run a small restaurant. Mrs. Turner values her Caucasian looks and disregards anyone with a more African appearance. She worships Janie because of her Caucasian features. She does not understand why Janie would marry a man as dark as Tea Cake, and she wants to introduce Janie to her brother.

Sam Watson: Pheoby’s husband. Sam Watson is wise and also very funny during the conversations on Jody’s porch. When a few Eatonville residents begin to express their anger toward Jody, Sam acknowledges that Jody can be bossy but points out that Jody is responsible for many improvements in the town.

Amos Hicks: A resident of Eatonville. He is one of the first people to meet Janie and Jody. He tries to lure Janie away from Jody but it doesn’t work.

Mr. and Mrs. Washburn: Nanny’s employers after she became free. Nanny lived in a house in the Washburn’s backyard. They helped raise Janie with their own children.

Johnny Taylor: A young man that Janie kisses when she starts to feel sexual desires as a teenager. This incident leads Nanny to force Janie to marry the more socially acceptable Logan Killicks.

Nunkie: A girl in the Everglades who constantly flirts with Tea Cake. Janie becomes very jealous of Nunkie, but after Tea Cake assures her that Nunkie means nothing to him, Nunkie disappears from the novel.