Character Analysis

the story's main character is a young black girl. it is through her eyes that we see the story, and the story revolves around her character's maturation, her realtionship with Mr. sweet, and her eventual discovery of loves power. we see her as a small childand the role sweet plays in her lifeby telling her stories, singing to her, and telling her how beautiful

she is. eventually we learn that she is especially good at reviving mr. sweet, and it is through those revivals that the seeds of lasting love are sown. As she gets older and goes off to school, we can she what kind of person she has grown to be and how important Mr. Sweet remains to her when she drops everything to rush to his bedsidewhere he lies dying for what turns out to be the last time. The girl is dynamic because she ages and matures through the story, becoming more of a woman, less like a child. her change is of a type we all should experience, a natural growth to maturity and understanding. While this maturity is expected, it does not lessen the degreeor importance of her change. she reccognizes, for example, that her parents are getting old, that Mr. Sweet is vulnerable after all, and finally that the love she and the others have always held for each otheris the most important force in their lives, including a realization that Mr. Sweet "was my first love". This regonition is important in her ability to finally let go of the man she loved for so long and to move on with her life with a fountation of love established. Walker's central idea is supported through the key role of uncontitional love.

Mr. Sweet is clearly the strongest supporting character. He is static because he is an alcoholic who never recovers, a man filled with remorse with the way his life turned out but is powerless to change it. occasionally he attemps to inquire about work on his farm but never carries out anything. He is stagnat in his life and hopless except through his music and his love for the neighboring children. His static behavior is important to see because despite his behaviorso many poeple love and support him. The little girl who becomes a woman loves him unconditionally in spite of his flaws, and this reinforcesthe ideathat such loveis blind and powerful.