Euchrid Eucrow : The protagonist of the book. Euchrid, a mute, is born on the heels of his almost stillborn brother who dies the next day. He grows up in extreme loneliness, alienated not only from society in general, but also from his parents. When he is not being thrashed by his mother, he generally studies the Bible, talks to animals, collect fetishes, spies on the local whore and the townspeople in general. He is also from time to time stricken with epileptic fits, in which he gets "visions".
Quote:"Mah skin crawled. Ah oozed icy grey sweat. Tears streamed down mah cheeks. Ah sat with fingers splayed, arms lifted, and ah felt mah very soul squirm within its shabby vestments of squalid flesh. The tiny room reeked with the stench of me. Ah was filth. Ah was foulness. Ah was swinishness itself. And ah longed to be clean.
Ezra
Eucrow a.k.a Ezra Morton : Ezra is Euchrid's father, and
Euchrid
usually refers to him as "Pa". Ezra was born the sixth son in a flock
of fifteen. The Morton family was obscenely inbred: "His family tree was
as twisted and tangled as the briars that tortured the hills.
Eye-blinding headaches, catatonia, seizures, trances and frequent
outbursts of violence were the order of the day". Fortunately for Ezra,
the burden of his "bad blood" was not as visible on him as it was on his
siblings. When his brothers finally crossed the boundaries of what kinds
of excessive violence the local authorities could choose to ignore, he ran
away and changed his name to Eucrow. The rest of his family was wiped out
by the local sheriff and his twenty man posse. After his
escape he met "Crow Jane". Ezra loves trapping animals
and building card houses.
Quote: "Git the sheet offa your bed. And bring some strong rope."
Jane Crowley a.k.a Crow
Jane : Crow Jane is
Euchrid's
mother, and
mostly
he refers to her as "Ma". She is a drunkard, and she is never portrayed as
completely sober during Euchrid's lifetime. She has three stills, one of
which
produces her favourite brew: "White Jesus". She is very abusive towards
Euchrid,
she is a house tyrant, and constantly she displays her violent affinities.
Quote:Them Mortons were the lowest inbred animals t'ever pleasure a pig! Their blood was black! Same's yours. Sick black blood! Look at ya eyes. There's some troubled blood in there. I seen it from the first. Troubled blood..."
Cosey
Mo : "[T]he harlot of Hooper's hill", Cosey Mo is the local
prostitute
who lives in a small pink caravan outside of town. Her presence is, until
the arrival of the preacher, Abie Poe, tolerated by the religious
community of Ukulore Valley. In fact, she is not only visited by the cane
workers, but also by some Ukulites. Euchrid tends to spy on her. He is,
due to his observational skills, the only one that knows that Cosey Mo is
the mother of Beth.
Quote: "Sooo, you're the peep...so, you're the watcher. That ain't the first time, is it sweetheart? You've been here before."
Beth : Beth is
found,
practically new-born, in the
town square on
the day that the rain, that has haunted the valley for three years,
stops. She is therefore looked upon by the Ukulites as a "sign", and
during the years of her upbringing the women of the valley develop a
belief that she is the "new" Virgin Mother, that her offspring will
mark the Second Coming of Christ. Sardus
Swift : He is the religious leader of the Ukulites in Ukulore
Valley. When his wife goes insane and tries to kill herself over her
inability to produce children, Sardus goes into a depression and slowly
retreats from public life. He stays to himself most of the time during
"the Rain", and this opens up a spot for Abie Poe. When Beth is found,
however, he, like the rest of Ukulore Valley, is revitalised. He takes
her in, and assumes the role of Beth's father. Abie
Poe : A self-made, gun-slinging, horse-riding, raving preacher.
He
comes to Ukulore Valley at a time when a feeling of despair dominates the
Vally, and through his
personal magnetism and charisma, he develops quite a following among
the townspeople for a while.
Quote : DEAR GOD,
I know You are there at my window. I know
you
watch over me at night. I love You as You love each of Your children. The
wise ladies say I am being tested and that I am part of Your big plan. I
ask them what is the big plan and they say it is not for me to know. They
say I am ready ever since the sign of the blood."
Quote: " O Doctor, I despair...so grave our
misdeeds...countless...Wicked! And my wife mad, bone of my bones,
flesh of my flesh, riddled with debauchery! Wicked woman! And
vice! O terrible, O wicked Rebecca. So horribly wrong was she
to think that just because God...the Preserver...the
Comforter...deemed it fitting and just to strike her dry of womb, to
take from her...the one damnable desire she felt! Her sole reason to
endure! "Thou shalt not want." And my wife wanted, and Doc
Morrow, so did I...O so did I!!"
Quote: "And ye, ye cocks of the dunghill, ye strutters on the
muckheap of the world, ye who have kissed the devil beneath the tail,
pray to the Lord God Almighty that He have mercy upon you! For His
hunter has his arrows drawn, and, like the way to the kingdom, his aim
is straight and clean."