Homer

Homer is the protagonist or main character of the story. He begins the novel as an escaped slave on the run from his master and the plantation overseer. Homer has spent his entire life in slavery, and he is used to seeing Black people constantly aware of their surroundings and cognizant of the white slave owners around them. He leads his younger sister into the swamps, all the while hoping that if he can remember the steps they are taking then his mother will be able to follow them.

Homer feels guilty through much of the novel because his mother was captured because of him. Ada, Rose, and Homer all escaped, but Homer had previously made a pact with his friend, Anna, that they would leave together. He wants to go back to get Anna, but his mother does instead, and it is then that his mother, Rose...