Daughter of Earth - Characters

Characters

• Marie Rogers - The protagonist of the story is believed to be a portrayal of Agnes Smedley. Her childhood is one of nomadic poverty, her father always moving the family in search of opportunities that continually fail. Beginning at a young age and reinforced throughout her life, Marie witnesses unhealthy marriages and gender bias. She grows up to relate marriage to slavery and refuses to compromise herself for a relationship. Because of this, her two marriages fail. Marie strives to make something of herself through education and hard work. Because of her background, she has a strong desire to see working-class people succeed. Marie’s involvement in the socialist party leaves this desire unfilled. She finds purpose in the Indian liberation cause. Marie receives sharp criticism for assisting the Indian movement when so much help is needed in America. She stands by her decisions, claiming that all struggling people are her people. She does not see herself as purely “American” but as a daughter of earth.
• John Rogers - Marie's Father. A Missouri farmer, John moves from wood chopping to coal hauling in search of a better life. He repeatedly abandons his family or forces them to move in search of work and wealth. His attempts fail. He is seen as charming, and Marie admires his story-telling abilities.
• Elly Rogers - Marie’s mother. Elly Rogers is an abused wife. The mother-daughter relationship changes as Marie grows up, and heavily influences Marie’s attitudes toward marriage and children. Often characterized in the novel by her rough hands, black from work, Elly works as a wash woman and later running a boarding house to support her family during her husband’s frequent absences. She dies at an early age from poor nutrition.
• Helen - Elly Rogers’s beautiful younger sister. Helen is strong, proud, independent, and loves life. She is admired and envied by both genders. Although once engaged to Annie’s husband, Sam, Helen never marries and makes her living as a prostitute, attracted by beautiful things, a better income than marriage offers, and the control prostitution allows her to have over her own body. When Marie’s father fails to provide for his family, Helen takes on the responsibility. Marie maintains a close relationship with her aunt.
• Beatrice, George, and Dan - Marie’s three younger siblings. Beatrice, George, and Dan, are sent to work for families following their mother’s death. Ill-treated, they turn to their sister for help. While Marie supports Beatrice, she lacks the resources to also provide for her brothers. George eventually dies in a ditch cave-in, and Dan serves in the military before going to live with his father and Sam.
• Annie Rogers - Marie’s older sister. As a working woman, she holds her own in confrontations with her father. She marries Sam and makes a good wife. She dies in child birth shortly after marriage.
• Sam Walker - Helen’s beau when she was a young girl, he marries Marie’s sister Annie. Later John Rogers and Dan also live with him in Oklahoma.
• Big Buck - A large, quiet, and proud man, this one-time cowboy exudes the spirit of the West. Originally introduced as one of John Rogers’s employees, he and Marie reunite when she moves to Arizona. He supports Marie for six months while she is in school. He proposes to Marie, but she turns him down.
• Robert Hampton - A pen pal of Marie who sends his old books by mail. Marie idealizes him. His image is shattered when she finally meets him and discovers their ideas on religion, politics, and gender differ greatly.
• Knut Larsen - Marie’s first husband and the brother of Karin Larson is a highly educated socialist. Their marriage, based on equality, is strained and fails when Knut tells Marie to take his first husbandly command to sit upright in a bus and she refuses.
• Karin Larsen - A statuesque Scandinavian woman from the East, Karin is the sister of Knut Larson. Karin is skeptical of academic conventions. Through Karin, Marie first learns about socialism.
• Anand Manvekar - Marie’s second husband, an Indian whose revolutionary ideas extend to women also. He thinks that without the freedom of women, the world will not advance; however, he cannot handle Marie's sex/rape incident with Juan Diaz. The marriage falls apart.
• Juan Diaz - A Eurasian, Juan is half Indian and half Portuguese. A Christian by religion, he is a cynical man who openly claims that his revolutionary ideas do not extend to women. He rapes Marie, then blackmails her and her husband which, eventually, becomes the source of Marie and Anand’s breakup.
• Sardarji Ranjit Singh - An Indian historian, Singh comes from militant people and has been arrested in the struggle for freedom in India. Marie describes him as tall, thin, and ugly. He becomes Marie’s teacher, mentor, and employer.
• Talvar Singh - One of many Indian students who congregate in Sardarji Ranjit Singh’s home. Talvar passes to Marie a confidential list of Indian names for safekeeping. Authorities arrest him at the same time they take Marie into custody and accuse her of being a spy.