In a satire, the characters usually lack the flexibility and individuality of characters in realistic fiction. They are not really "characters" at all, but satiric-comic devices representing values or patterns of behavior the author has singled out for attack. The satirist defines his position early in the novel, and then the characters serve to illustrate it, each one acting rigidly and too involved in his own frenzy to pause for self-analysis.

The characters in Pinktoes are very much in the tradition of farcical satire, which has always thrived on the humiliation of villains and fools. Himes's secondary characters are cartoon figures embodying various forms of lewdness and lust. There is Panama Paul, for example, who dreams he is in a heaven full of white angels, but is unable to fly because his testicles are weighted down with anvils. He is no more developed as a character than is...