The Narrator's Father Character Analysis Essay

Character Analysis of The Narrator's Mother The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man follows one man through his journey of finding his true self, finding who he wants to be. The story starts out with the narrator, who is unnamed, as a child and follows him through adulthood. Throughout the story, readers learn about all of the challenges the narrator faced while growing up as a child of mixed race shortly after the end of Civil War. He narrates his experiences of being raised by a single mother and those of being a musical prodigy. The narrator also teaches his readers that even when all of the odds are stacked against him, he is persistent and makes something of himself. He got his persistence and motivation from his mother, who is a very interesting character. Strong-willed, hardworking, and compassionate are all adjectives that describe the narrator's mother. The author presents the narrator's mother as a very strong and intelligent woman in …show more content…
“No, I am not white, but you--your father is one of the greatest men in the country-the best blood in the South is in you” (Johnson 402). This shows that she does not want to move, but she has to because of the amount of love she has for her child and her child’s father. At this point in time, white people are still very prejudice towards African Americans, and it was uncommon for people to be in an interracial relationship. The narrator's father is “one of the greatest men in the country,” and word getting out about his out of wedlock child, who is mixed, would be detrimental to his status. The narrator's mother knew this, and these factors led to her moving her family 1,014 miles away from him and home. She protects her child’s father from a lot of political turmoil because she still has love for him which shows she is willing to put others needs before her own, which shows her