Annis

Annis is the main character and first person narrator of the novel. She is a dynamic character. This means that Annis changes over the course of the narrative. At the novel’s start, Annis is still a young girl. Because she is enslaved and her mother is her only family, Annis is entirely reliant upon Sasha for comfort, support, strength, and guidance. Her mother often tells her that she is like her grandmother, Mama Aza. That she is capable and determined, spirited and persevering. However, because Annis is a child and because she never knew Mama Aza, she is unsure how to inhabit her supposed strength of character.

It is not until Annis loses her mother at the end of Chapter 1, “Mama’s Bladed Hands,” that she is compelled to reshape her identity as an independent individual. After the sire sells Sasha, Annis realizes “That this what it...