The Characters of If You Come Softly -Courtesy of Wordle.net Elisha (or Ellie) Sidney Eisen- Caucasian, The main girl of the story, in love with Jeremiah. The story is told in first person for her. Her family is Jewish and Caucasian. She lives with her father and her mother. She does not have a strong relationship with her mother, because Marion left the family twice. Ellie and her father are close, but he works a lot, so they don't get to see each other much. She has four older siblings, and is closest to her sister, Anne. Her siblings don't live at home because they are all grown up and out of the house. Ellie is known as the "accident" of the family, because her parents didn't try to have her.
Marion- Caucasian, Ellie's mother. Ellie calls her mother 'Marion' because Marion won't call her Ellie; she calls Ellie her real name, Elisha. She is the main provider and caretaker for the family. She left the family twice; once when Ellie was four and once when Ellie was eight. It weakened the relationship between Marion and Ellie. She is kind of uptight, and is not really in love with her husband, Edward (Ellie's father).
Edward- Caucasian, Ellie's father. He and Ellie have a very strong relationship, but he does not have a huge part in the story because he is a very hard-working doctor. He and Marion claim they love each other, but the rest of the family thinks otherwise.
Anne-Caucasian, Ellie's sister and Edward and Marion's daughter. She is the closest sibling to Ellie and lives in San Francisco with her girlfriend. She and Ellie have a falling-out when Ellie tells her that the boy she loves is black.
Jeremiah (or Miah)- African American, The main boy of the story. The story is told in third person limited for him. His parents are divorced, so he lives with both. His parents live right across from each other, so it is easy to split time between them. He is very involved in basketball and has very good friends, who(m?) he calls his "homeboys". His father is African-American and his mother is white. He has a great relationship with his mother, but not so much with his father, since he is on the road a lot being a very popular movie director. He is also mad at his father for leaving his mom, and having an affair with a woman named Lois Ann. He loves Ellie very much. A quote that describes him well is:
"Jeremiah was black. He could feel it. The way the sun pressed down hard and hot on his skin in the summer. Sometimes he sweated black beads of oil. He felt warm inside his skin, protected. (Woodson 5)"
Nelia- Caucasian, Miah's mom. She is a very nice and caring person, and her and Miah get along greatly. She is a famous novelist, and is claimed to be very beautiful. She is angry at her ex-husband, Norman, for leaving her and finding another woman. Nelia is Caucasian.
Norman Roselind- African American, Miah's father. He cares very much for his son, and doesn't know of his sons anger at him because of his leaving. He is a famous African-American movie director, and has won some Oscars for his films. He now lives with Lois Ann, a woman who lives across the street from Nelia, and who have been having an affair together long before the divorce.
Lois Ann-African American, Norman's partner. She is supposedly very pretty. Miah doesn't think Lois Ann is as pretty as his mother, Nelia, though. She and Norman live across the street from Nelia.
Carlton- African American, Miah's "homeboy". He goes to Tech, where Miah previously went before switching to Percy Academy. He is also very good at basketball and plays on the Tech team. He respects the fact of Jeremiah's love for Ellie.
"Ellie and Miah at Central Park" drawn by Shannon
Works cited:
Woodson, Jacqueline. If You Come Softly. New York: Puffin, 2006.
-Courtesy of Wordle.net
Elisha (or Ellie) Sidney Eisen- Caucasian, The main girl of the story, in love with Jeremiah. The story is told in first person for her. Her family is Jewish and Caucasian. She lives with her father and her mother. She does not have a strong relationship with her mother, because Marion left the family twice. Ellie and her father are close, but he works a lot, so they don't get to see each other much. She has four older siblings, and is closest to her sister, Anne. Her siblings don't live at home because they are all grown up and out of the house. Ellie is known as the "accident" of the family, because her parents didn't try to have her.
Marion- Caucasian, Ellie's mother. Ellie calls her mother 'Marion' because Marion won't call her Ellie; she calls Ellie her real name, Elisha. She is the main provider and caretaker for the family. She left the family twice; once when Ellie was four and once when Ellie was eight. It weakened the relationship between Marion and Ellie. She is kind of uptight, and is not really in love with her husband, Edward (Ellie's father).
Edward- Caucasian, Ellie's father. He and Ellie have a very strong relationship, but he does not have a huge part in the story because he is a very hard-working doctor. He and Marion claim they love each other, but the rest of the family thinks otherwise.
Anne-Caucasian, Ellie's sister and Edward and Marion's daughter. She is the closest sibling to Ellie and lives in San Francisco with her girlfriend. She and Ellie have a falling-out when Ellie tells her that the boy she loves is black.
Jeremiah (or Miah)- African American, The main boy of the story. The story is told in third person limited for him. His parents are divorced, so he lives with both. His parents live right across from each other, so it is easy to split time between them. He is very involved in basketball and has very good friends, who(m?) he calls his "homeboys". His father is African-American and his mother is white. He has a great relationship with his mother, but not so much with his father, since he is on the road a lot being a very popular movie director. He is also mad at his father for leaving his mom, and having an affair with a woman named Lois Ann. He loves Ellie very much. A quote that describes him well is:
"Jeremiah was black. He could feel it. The way the sun pressed down hard and hot on his skin in the summer. Sometimes he sweated black beads of oil. He felt warm inside his skin, protected. (Woodson 5)"
Nelia- Caucasian, Miah's mom. She is a very nice and caring person, and her and Miah get along greatly. She is a famous novelist, and is claimed to be very beautiful. She is angry at her ex-husband, Norman, for leaving her and finding another woman. Nelia is Caucasian.
Norman Roselind- African American, Miah's father. He cares very much for his son, and doesn't know of his sons anger at him because of his leaving. He is a famous African-American movie director, and has won some Oscars for his films. He now lives with Lois Ann, a woman who lives across the street from Nelia, and who have been having an affair together long before the divorce.
Lois Ann-African American, Norman's partner. She is supposedly very pretty. Miah doesn't think Lois Ann is as pretty as his mother, Nelia, though. She and Norman live across the street from Nelia.
Carlton- African American, Miah's "homeboy". He goes to Tech, where Miah previously went before switching to Percy Academy. He is also very good at basketball and plays on the Tech team. He respects the fact of Jeremiah's love for Ellie.
Works cited:
Woodson, Jacqueline. If You Come Softly. New York: Puffin, 2006.