The Narrator

The never-named narrator is an African-American male of an undetermined age who lives and works as a farmer in Dickens, California. The narrator is a brilliant, college-educated, irreverent, sarcastic, comedic. Initially, he is a self-interested libertarian who has no interest in giving back to his community. The narrator disagrees with the prevailing black cultural mindset among people. For example, his father and Foy see racism as prevalent everywhere. Though the narrator himself has experienced racism firsthand, he also knows that race relations are far better than they used to be, though they still require cultivation. When the City of Dickens is “deleted” from the map to increase the property values of homes and business surrounding the area, the narrator takes it upon himself to restore Dickens.

The narrator grudgingly takes on Hominy as a slave because Hominy insists. The narrator and Hominy set about marking the boundaries...