Mudbound

Henry is a successful man who builds airfields and bases for the United States military. He is methodical and nonsensical in his work and in his relationships. During his time on the farm, his racist attitudes are not as virulent as those of his father, but Henry makes it clear that he expects Negroes in the south to be respectful and obey him.

When he first kisses Laura he does so in a way that she interprets as his taking possession of her, and she describes him as doing nearly everything with a self-confidence that she envies. One of Henry’s challenges in a world where people are willing to exploit others is that he expects people to do what they say they will do, and to behave honestly, as he does. This makes it possible for the grifter to cheat him out of the house, leading them onward to Mudbound where the novel’s real troubles begin. “If he had just signed a lease. If he were just a different sort of man. Henry was never good at reading people. He always assumed everybody was just like him; that they said what they meant and would do what they said” (62).

Henry is also insecure in the presence of his brother Jamie, who is charming, handsome, and with whom Laura is in love. Henry does not pay enough attention to Laura, which makes her notice Jamie’s constant compliments and thoughtful gestures all the more. 

Jamie is Henry’s younger brother. After returning from the war, he visits Henry and Laura from Oxford while they are courting. Laura is immediately captivated by him. Henry notices and says that women “sparkle” (24) when Jamie is around, and that Laura should not think that his attentions are tailored to her; he says that Jamie treats her the way he treats “anything in a skirt” (24). Jamie dances and is an aspiring actor, but Henry’s descriptions of him as being shiftless and doing whatever he can to avoid responsibility ring true for much of the novel.

However, Jamie is tormented by his time in the war and drinks heavily to cope. His fecklessness is not merely that of a pleasure-seeking, immature adult. He finds a kindred spirit in Ronsel Jackson, but this leads to the book’s greatest tragedy; he befriends a black man in a time and place where doing so leads to punishment. When the Klan members capture Ronsel, Jamie tries to intervene. He is unable to help and instead is forced to choose Ronsel’s punishment: the removal of his tongue. He is then overcome with guilt at his decision, and smothers Pappy with a pillow in an attempt to atone for his mistake.

Pappy is the novel’s most one-dimensional character. He is Henry’s father, and a committed racist who is willing to commit violence to enforce the delta’s code of white supremacy. When Laura moves in with her family, he delights in making her do chores for him, despite doing almost no work himself. He likes that her children are afraid of him because it is another way in which he can show he is in control. When Jamie arrives, the reader learns that Pappy always loved him the most, but this leads him to treat him more harshly than others; he sees in Jamie something he wanted to be, but never could. He is always mocking Jamie, telling him to be more of a man, and to “toughen up” (192). During the scene in the sawmill where Ronsel is mutilated, Pappy is the leader. Jamie kills Pappy for his role in the savagery, and Pappy is then buried on the family land, having undergone no significant moral evolution. 

Ronsel is the son of Florence and Hap. In the war, he served as part of an all-black tank battalion, endorsed by General Patton. He became a decorated sergeant and a venerable figure in Europe. Overseas, he grows accustomed to being treated with respect and gratitude for being willing to fight the war against the Nazis. Near the end of the war, he meets a white woman named Resl with whom he falls in love.

When Ronsel returns to Mississippi, his parents believe it is the answer to their prayers. They were falling behind in work, and Ronsel manages to take on the extra work. However, Ronsel is deeply and immediately unsatisfied by the racism on the delta. The boldness and prestige he gained in the war are nothing. He knows he is nothing but another black man to the white racists of the south and begins planning to leave as soon as the harvest is over. His friendship with Jamie is a comfort to him, as they share war stories and the experience of combat trauma, but it is his familiarity with Jamie that leads to his downfall.

Once he is back in Mississippi Resl sends him a letter, informing him that she bore his son and asking him to return to Germany to help raise the boy. He leaves the letter in Jamie’s truck, where Pappy finds it. Pappy then demands retribution for Ronsel’s sexual actions with a white woman, and they cut out his tongue. At the end of the novel, Ronsel is unsure of whether he can overcome his pain or not but is committed to trying. 

Florence is Ronsel’s mother and Hap’s wife. She begins keeping house for Laura when the McAllan’s move to the farm, while also continuing her duties as a midwife to the region’s women. They are friendly, but there is never any sense that Laura considers Florence an equal. Florence manages to help Laura’s daughters when they have a whooping cough, and this endears her to Laura, but it will not last.

Tension grows between them when Florence notices that Laura is attracted to Jamie, and hints at their relationship. Florence is a superstitious character, always casting spells and leaving charms about to ward off the evil eye that she feels is watching the farm. When Ronsel is taken and attacked, she plans on killing Pappy, but Jamie smothers him before she gets her chance. When her family leaves at the end of the novel, Florence believes that Pappy was doing the devil’s work, and that Mudbound was a place where evil could flourish.