Minor Characters

Character Analysis

Glynese

Glynese is Mrs. Hopewell's eighteen-year-old daughter. She is unmarried and popular with the boys, and on the Saturday of Hulga and Manley's date, she has been proposed to by a man named Harvey Hill, but we don't know if she has accepted. We never see Glynese or learn much about her. Hulga refers to her as Glycerin, but we don't know if or how she and Hulga interact.

Carramae

Carramae is Mrs. Hopewell's fifteen-year-old daughter. She is married to a man named Lyman and is currently pregnant. As with her sister, we don't ever meet her or hear much about what she's like. Hulga's nickname for her is a Caramel, which doesn't sound too mean, but we don't know if Hulga has any dealings with her, and if so, how they interact.

Lyman

Lyman is Carramae's husband. All we really know about him is that he insisted on a church wedding because it "felt more sacred to him" (63).

Harvey Hill

Harvey dates Glynese and asks her to marry him. In contrast to Lyman, he is happy to be married in front of an "ordinary" (57), which is another word for judge (though we don't suggest you bust that term out in court). Apparently, "he wouldn't take five hundred dollars for being married by a preacher" (59). He is studying to be a chiropractor, and apparently he cured Glynese's sty by having her lie down on the seat of the car and "pop[ping] her neck" (55). Harvey sounds like he could be a pretty fun character, but he doesn't get a walk on role in this story.

Mr. Freeman

Mr. Freeman is only mentioned once in the story that we can tell. We learn that the farmer for whom the Freeman's last worked found him to be "a good farmer" (3). As far as we know, he's been working at Mrs. Hopewell's for the last four years, just like his wife. Why do you think he gets such a small role in this story?