Big Boy is the title character and protagonist of the story. The reader is never given a clear description of his physical appearance, background, or personality, but some of these details can be gleaned from the narrative. He is an African American school-aged boy who is living in the rural South with his family. Their last name is Morrison, as seen when the elder calls his mother “Sister Morrison” at the end of Section III. The descriptions of Big Boy’s tattered clothes and ill-fitting shoes suggest that he is poor and of low social status.

His ability to physically overpower his three friends suggests that he is strong, and his repeated battles for his life against Jim, the snake, and the dog suggest his extraordinary will to survive. He is the first to be identified among the undifferentiated voices of his friends, and he’s singled out because he introduces a made-up word—“quall”—into their rhyming scheme, implying that he’s something of a rule-breaker.

Big Boy is a dynamic character who changes over the course of the story. The dramatic plot action leads him to kill someone and go on the run to a new

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now