Unnamed Negro Butler
Text:
Character Key:
Display Name:
Unnamed Negro Butler
Sort Name:
Unnamed Negro Butler
Race:
Black
Gender:
Male
Class:
Free Black
Rank:
Minor
Vitality:
Alive
Occupation:
Domestic Service
Specific Job:
Butler
First Mentioned:
Biography:
Major de Spain's unnamed house servant is the story's only black character. Although Mrs. Grier twice asks de Spain "what is your Negro's name?," and after the second question the Major "calls the name," the narrator never tells us what it is (109). The narrator does, however, note "the whites of the monkey nigger's eyes" when he first opens the mansion's door (106), and that he moves "without making any more noise than a cat" when he takes away the pistol from the top of the coffin (109).
Note:
The servant occupies a central role in the narrative even if the Grier boy does not realize it, as the boy is preoccupied with describing and watching him.
Individual or Group:
Individual
Character changes class in this text:
digyok:node/character/6733