Faces in The Moon - Character Synopsis

Character Synopsis

• Helen Evers- Helen is a full blood Cherokee Indian woman. She was her father's only girl and his favorite. Helen spent much of her childhood with Lizzie, Emmie, and their mother. She is Gracie and Rozella's mother and Lucie's grandmother. She got pregnant by a Scotch preacher who left her after Rozella was born. Helen and her daughters lived in an abandoned car. She worked during The Great Depression in order to make a living for her family. Helen and Lucie are linked through their love of the story of Quanah Parker. The title of the book refers to Helen's face; Lucie, as a child and as an adult, comments that she sees Helen's face in the moon.
• Gracie Evers- Gracie is Lucie's mother, Rozella's sister, Helen's daughter, and Lizzie's niece. Gracie represents internalized white, mainstream culture. She has been through numerous husbands and has altered her appearance to look as far from native as possible. She sends Lucie to live with Lizzie at the request of J.D. It is Gracie's death that summons Lucie back to Oklahoma. As an older woman, Gracie stores numerous cans of food in an attempt to ensure she is never hungry like she was as a child.
• Lucie Evers- Lucie Gracie’s daughter and is the protagonist of the story. She is a mixed-blood (Cherokee and Scotch) that is trying to cope with an identity crisis. Lucie is taken to her Aunt Lizzie's house around the age of four and lives with her for the majority of her childhood. She escapes to California and lives there as an adult. However, she returns to Oklahoma when she learns her mother is ill. Lucie is often described as looking like her grandmother Helen. Her memories and experiences are the substance of the book. In an autobiographical fiction context, Betty Louise Bell and Lucie are synonymous.
• Rozella- Rozella is Gracie's younger sister, Helen's daughter, and Lucie's "Auney." She has been through four marriages yet never divorced. When she grows bored with her husband, she always goes to Gracie for comfort. Lucie describes her as "silent and placid, she told no tales and didn't hit" (11). She is a heavy smoker who always seemed to marry heavy drinkers. When she dies, she leaves Lucie a lighter and a letter (written by Gracie) telling her how proud she was of her.
• Lizzie Evers- Lizzie is a full blood Cherokee Indian woman. She is a sister-in-law to Helen Evers. Lizzie is Gracie's aunt and Lucie's great aunt. She takes care of Lucie after the incident with J.D and introduces her to the native heritage that her mother (Gracie) has suppressed. Lizzie suffers, and eventually dies, from tuberculosis. She represents the traditional culture of Native Americans and serves as a foil character to Gracie.
• Uncle Jerry- Uncle Jerry is Lizzie's husband that suffers from war-induced post traumatic stress syndrome. He constantly talks to his radio. At the end of the novel, he uses the money Lizzie saved for her burial to buy a television set.
• Jeeter- "Old man Jeeter" is the man Helen married to ensure a home and food for her children. He is not represented in a very positive way. Gracie says she and her sister talked to their mother "about old man Jeeter and the hard life they had without her" (18). Nevertheless, the Gracie and Rozella stayed with him after Helen's death.
• Mabel- Mabel is Gracie's landlady and the woman who tells Lucie of her mother's illness. She is often represented as the prying neighbor.
• J.D.- J.D. is a supply sergeant stationed at Fort Hill. He is a heavy drinker and steals cigarettes, alcohol, and food from the government. J.D. dislikes Lucie and teases her constantly. He is also very abusive, hitting both Lucie and her mother. In a horrible incident when Lucie is only four years old, J.D. rapes her in the kitchen while Gracie sleeps. He threathens to leave Gracie if she does not get Lucie out of the house.
• Donny Khatib- Donny is a Lebanese hairdresser and Gracie's third husband. He came to the United States in his late forties. He and Gracie originally set up barber's chairs in the corner of a laundromat to make a living. Donny physically abuses Gracie throughout their marriage. He served seven years in prison after assaulting a teenage boy for making a racist comment against him.
• Johnnie Bevis- Johnnie is Gracie's current boyfriend. Johnnie is known for dating Indian women. He has children with an Indian woman named Delores but is now interested in Gracie.
• Uncle Henry- Uncle Henry is Bertha's husband. He spent time in an Indian Boarding School run by Southern Baptists. He and Bertha have ten children who all went to college. Uncle Henry has one leg due to an injury sustained in World War I. Gracie calls him an "uppity Indian" (43).
• Aunt Bertha- Aunt Bertha is Henry's Choctaw wife. She is short and plump with a round face. In an important part of the novel, Aunt Bertha makes the comment, alluding to Lucie, that mixed bloods are beautiful people.
• Melvin- Melvin is Lucie's ex-husband. He and his family did not respond kindly to Gracie when she came to Melvin and Lucie's wedding.
• Emmie- Emmie is Lizzie's sister. Lizzie makes brief reference to her when she describes Helen to Lucie.