Meridian Henry Character Analysis in Blues for Mister Charlie

Meridian Henry, father to Richard Henry and son to Mother Henry, is a Black Christian minister in an unnamed town in the U.S. South. When his son is about 14, his wife dies in a fall at a white hotel. Meridian suspects that a white man pushed her but doesn’t know for sure. In his grief and horror, he allows Richard to live with his Aunt Edna in New York City and throws himself into his ministry. During the Civil Rights Movement, he organizes college students protesting for social justice, including Juanita Harmon, Lorenzo Shannon, and Pete Spivey. He grows close to Juanita and develops romantic feelings for her but never acts on them. After Richard comes home to recover from his heroin addiction and reignites a love affair with Juanita, Meridian encourages the match. After racist white store owner Lyle Britten murders Richard, Meridian becomes progressively disillusioned with his religion and his nonviolent approach to protest, wondering whether Christianity robs Black people of their dignity and whether he made a mistake in cautioning Black protestors not to get guns. At Lyle’s trial for Richard’s murder, Meridian speaks out strongly against the sensationalized and racist characterization of Richard by Lyle’s defense attorney (called The State), thereby feeling that he may have finally earned the title of minister.

Meridian Henry Quotes in Blues for Mister Charlie

The Blues for Mister Charlie quotes below are all either spoken by Meridian Henry or refer to Meridian Henry. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Ken: How much does your wife charge?

Meridian: Now you got it. You really got it now. That’s them. Keep walking, Arthur. Keep walking!

Tom: You get your ass off these streets from around here, boy, or we going to do us some cutting—we’re going to cut that big, black thing off of you, you hear?

Related Characters: Meridian Henry (speaker), Willa Mae , Lyle Britten

Page Number and Citation: 3

Explanation and Analysis:

Meridian Henry is a Black Christian minister who helps to organize protests for racial justice during the African-American civil rights movement (1954–1968). In this passage, he is coaching several Black students, including Ken, Tom, and Arthur, as they roleplay ignoring taunts or threats by white protestors during a nonviolent protest. During the roleplay, Ken and Tom taunt and threaten Arthur with distinctly sexual overtones, thereby emphasizing early in the play the importance of sexual stereotypes to anti-Black racism in a white-supremacist society. When Ken asks, “How much does your wife charge?”, he is imagining a white heckler who assumes—or pretends Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto

Lorenzo: Mother Henry, I got a lot of respect for you and all that, and for Meridian too, but that white man’s God is white. It’s that damn white God that’s been lynching us and burning us and castrating us and raping our women and robbing us of everything that makes a man a man for all these hundreds of years. Now, why we sitting around here, in His house?

Related Characters: Lorenzo Shannon (speaker), Meridian Henry, Mother Henry

Page Number and Citation: 4

Explanation and Analysis:

Lorenzo Shannon, a Black college student who protests for racial justice during the African-American civil rights movement, is questioning why two other racial-justice protestors—elderly Mother Henry and her son, Christian minister Meridian Henry—continue to be devout Christians and to organize protests for racial justice out of the Christian God’s “house,” i.e. a church. Lorenzo is not speaking literally when he calls the Christian God “that damn white God” and claims that the Christian God has been “lynching,” “burning,” “castrating,” “raping,” and “robbing” Black people for “hundreds of years.” Rather, Lorenzo is indirectly pointing out that many African American Christians are Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus

Richard: Every one of them’s got some piss-assed, faggoty white boy on a string somewhere. They go home and marry him, dig, when they can’t make it with me no more—but when they want some loving, funky, down-home, bring-it-on-here-and-put-it-on-the-table style—

Juanita: They sound very sad. It must be very sad for you, too.

Related Characters: Juanita Harmon (speaker), Richard Henry (speaker), Pete Spivey, Meridian Henry

Page Number and Citation: 26

Explanation and Analysis:

Richard, recently returned home to the South from New York City, has gone out with college students and racial-justice protestors Juanita and Pete for drinks and dancing. Richard is bragging about taking money from his white girlfriends who want him for his superior “loving,” i.e. sexual prowess. This quotation shows how Richard has reacted to feelings of being “emasculated” in a white-supremacist society with internalized racism and unproductive attempts at revenge. The audience already knows that Richard believes his mother was murdered by a white man whose sexual advances she refused; he feels that he and his father have been Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae co

Meridian: Of course, if you go back far enough, you get to a point before Christ, if you see what I mean, B.C.—and at that point, I’ve been thinking, black people weren’t raised to turn the other cheek, and in the hope of heaven. No, then they didn’t have to take low. Before Christ. They walked around just as good as anybody else, and when they died, they didn’t go to heaven, they went to join their ancestors.

Related Characters: Meridian Henry (speaker), Parnell James, Richard Henry, Lyle Britten

Page Number and Citation: 38

Explanation and Analysis:

After Lyle murders Richard, Meridian—who has been organizing nonviolent protests for racial justice—talks to his white friend Parnell James about whether Christian-inflected pacifism is really the right approach to fighting for racial justice. The phrase “turn the other cheek” refers to the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus Christ advises his followers not to return violence for violence: “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also” (Matthew 5:39). When Meridian says that Black people have been “raised” in Christian nonviolence “in the hope of heaven,” he means that Christianity teaches that people Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferend

Parnell: He’s a poor white man. The poor whites have been just as victimized in this part of the world as the blacks have ever been!

Related Characters: Parnell James (speaker), Richard Henry, Meridian Henry, Old Bill, Lyle Britten

Page Number and Citation: 41

Explanation and Analysis:

After Lyle Britten is arrested on suspicion of having murdered Richard, Meridian talks with Parnell—a white man who is friends with both Meridian and Lyle—about Lyle. Though Parnell himself helped pressure the police chief into arresting Lyle, he asks Meridian to consider whether Lyle might be innocent in Richard’s death. When Meridian points out that Lyle has previously killed a Black man—though the killing was tendentiously ruled “self-defense”—Parnell tries to argue that Lyle isn’t a bad person, just a “poor white man” who has thus been “victimized” like Black people in the South. Parnell’s argument has two functions. One, it Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci

Parnell: Meridian—what you ask—I don’t know if I can do it for you.

Meridian: I don’t want you to do it for me. I want you to do it for you.

Related Characters: Meridian Henry (speaker), Parnell James (speaker), Lyle Britten, Richard Henry

Page Number and Citation: 43

Explanation and Analysis:

Meridian has requested that Parnell ask Lyle Britten whether Lyle murdered Meridian’s son Richard. In response, Parnell, who is friends with both Meridian and Lyle, admits, “I don’t know if I can”—suggesting both that Parnell fears betraying his friendship with Lyle and that he fears finding out who Lyle really is. Meridian replies that Parnell wouldn’t be doing it for Meridian but for himself. This reply illuminates why, in the play’s view, white people should be anti-racist. White anti-racism isn’t about white people doing Black people a favor, just as Parnell asking Lyle whether he killed Richard wouldn’t be about Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Volu

Juanita: I am not responsible for your imagination.

Related Characters: Juanita Harmon (speaker), Jo Britten, Pete Spivey, Meridian Henry, Richard Henry, The State, Lyle Britten

Page Number and Citation: 97

Explanation and Analysis:

Lyle Britten’s defense attorney, called The State, has been questioning Juanita about whether she had romantic relationships with Richard Henry, Meridian Henry, or Pete Spivey—and concludes by insinuating that Juanita is an unreliable witness because she is sexually promiscuous. Juanita simply replies, “I am not responsible for your imagination.” This reply is an important thematic statement for the play. Throughout the play, white characters have projected their own sexual anxieties and fantasies onto Black characters in a racist manner. For example, they have claimed that Black men are sexually predatory and that Black women are sexually promiscuous and generally “available.” Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debiti

Meridian: I don’t think that the alleged object was my son’s type at all!

The State: And you are a minister?

Meridian: I think I may be beginning to become one.

Related Characters: The State (speaker), Meridian Henry (speaker), Richard Henry, Lyle Britten

Related Symbols: Photos

Page Number and Citation: 105

Explanation and Analysis:

At Lyle’s trial for Richard’s murder, Lyle’s defense attorney, called The State, attempts to get Lyle acquitted by prejudicing the jury against Richard in various ways—essentially putting Richard’s character on trial. While questioning Meridian, the State asks Meridian whether Richard ever showed him pornographic photos of white women—a clear attempt to activate racist stereotypes about predatory Black men interested in white women—and then accuses Richard of having attempted to rape Lyle’s wife Jo. Meridian, aware that the accusation is a ridiculous lie, mockingly replies: “I don’t think the alleged object [i.e. Jo] was my son’s type at all!” By ridiculing Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetu

Lyle: You ain’t no better than me!

Parnell: I am aware of that. God knows I have been made aware of that—for the first time in my life.

Related Characters: Parnell James (speaker), Lyle Britten (speaker), Juanita Harmon, Jo Britten, Meridian Henry, Richard Henry

Page Number and Citation: 117

Explanation and Analysis:

After Lyle is acquitted for the murder of Richard, Meridian still demands to know whether Lyle murdered Richard—and Parnell backs Meridian up. Lyle expresses outrage that Parnell seemed to doubt Jo’s story about Richard sexually assaulting her and tells Parnell, “You ain’t no better than me!” Parnell replies that he has “been made aware of that—for the first time.” This exchange helps to characterize how Lyle and Parnell’s characters have developed—or failed to develop—over the course of the play. When Lyle cries out that Parnell isn’t better than he is, he seems to mean that even though Parnell is richer, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspicia

Meridian Henry Character Timeline in Blues for Mister Charlie

The timeline below shows where the character Meridian Henry appears in Blues for Mister Charlie. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Later, in a church—from which is visible a courthouse flying an American flag—a Black minister, Meridian, coaches Black students on not reacting when white hecklers call them slurs, call their sisters... (full context)

Meridian’s mother, Mother Henry, enters. More Black students—including Juanita, Lorenzo, and Pete—enter carrying signs and looking... (full context)

Meridian asks whether the police arrested any protestors. Pete says the police are too busy trying... (full context)

...thanks Parnell, he asks her not to—he only did as he felt compelled. He leaves. Meridian wonders whether Lyle will be convicted. Juanita says that they haven’t yet arrested Lyle, who... (full context)

On the Black side of town, in church, Meridian, Mother Henry, and the Black students reminisce about Richard’s favorite songs. In a brief flashback,... (full context)

...if he doesn’t. Richard calls Mother Henry “smart.” Then he says that while he convinced Meridian that New York was a better place for a Black person, it really wasn’t. (full context)

Mother Henry asks why Richard didn’t come home. He says he wanted Meridian to be proud of him—because he wasn’t proud of his father, whom he wishes had... (full context)

...begs him to give her the gun. He refuses and insists that she not tell Meridian. After a moment, she exits. Later, Juanita walks in looking for Meridian and Mother Henry... (full context)

In a flashback, Richard returns home from Papa D’s juke joint and runs into Meridian. They chat, and Richard mentions that if he’d stayed in the South, he might have... (full context)

When Richard insists that Meridian let Richard go North because he was afraid Richard was ashamed of him, Meridian says... (full context)

Back in the play’s main timeline, the students say goodbye to Meridian and Mother Henry and leave the church. Parnell enters. When Parnell says he heard things... (full context)

When Parnell asks what will happen if Meridian breaks down, Meridian says maybe the Black townspeople would find someone competent to lead them.... (full context)

When Parnell reminds Meridian how he used to say that his race was “the human race,” Meridian repeats the... (full context)

Parnell asks for “mercy.” When Meridian points out that white people never show mercy to Black people, Parnell begs Meridian to... (full context)

When Parnell claims that they don’t know Lyle killed Richard, Meridian points out that there’s no other suspect, Lyle killed Old Bill, and Lyle hates Black... (full context)

Parnell asks Meridian to consider whether Lyle didn’t do it and claims that Lyle “suffers.” When Meridian asks... (full context)

In church in the Black part of town, Meridian is preaching at Richard’s funeral. He preaches that while he and his people have undergone... (full context)

...She thinks she’ll end up caring for another man someday, whether that man is Pete, Meridian, or Parnell—and she comments that Parnell’s life must be terrible: all bodies are “bloody” to... (full context)

...whether Juanita had other boyfriends between Richard’s departure and his return—and whether her loneliness and Meridian’s caused her and Meridian to draw closer together. Without waiting for an answer, the State... (full context)

...that he was. She heard about the fight in the evening and went running to Meridian’s house to see Richard. In a flashback, Meridian greets Juanita, tells her Richard is sleeping,... (full context)

When Juanita replies, “oh, my God,” Meridian says he wants to ask her a question just one time: was he imagining their... (full context)

Juanita asks Meridian whether they’ll always suffer. Meridian says he doesn’t know, but they have to keep going.... (full context)

...for tonsil surgery when he was six. She recalls how, the day Richard was born, Meridian prayed “to raise him to be a good strong man.” The judge dismisses her. (full context)

Meridian is called to the stand. In a flashback, Meridian is teaching the Song of Songs... (full context)

The State says that Meridian, as a minister, certainly wouldn’t have encouraged his son to carry a gun. Meridian says... (full context)

The State insinuates that Richard strayed from Christianity because Meridian, in preaching “social equality,” served as a bad Christian example. Meridian replies that he’s not... (full context)

The State asks Meridian about his relationship to Juanita and whether he’s had sex since his wife died. When... (full context)

The State asks Meridian about Richard’s obscene photos of himself and white women. Meridian says Richard never told him... (full context)

...The State asks Parnell about Richard and Lyle. Parnell says he’s friends with Richard’s father Meridian—and with Lyle. When the State asks whether the two friendships were equally strong, Parnell says... (full context)

...them to anyone due to the “danger”—and that Richard wouldn’t have showed the photos to Meridian as the women in them were “beneath him.” The State pontificates that any white woman... (full context)

The State asks whether Richard’s attempt to rape Jo damaged Parnell’s friendship with Meridian. Parnell says he never heard anything about a rape attempt until today. The State asks... (full context)

...say nothing. Soon the courtroom is mostly empty. Lyle thanks Parnell for “com[ing] through,” and Meridian asks Parnell to ask Lyle for the truth. When Lyle snaps at Meridian that the... (full context)

...Lyle by pretending to entertain the lie. Parnell isn’t sure whether he betrayed Lyle or Meridian more, in fact. Lyle asks whether Parnell has forgotten he’s white—something Lyle’s father taught Lyle... (full context)

Meridian demands to know whether Richard pleaded for his life before Lyle shot him. Lyle exclaims... (full context)

...from Black people lest they “get to like it.” Then he calls out for Juanita, Meridian, and his mother. (full context)

...church that they need “to march” now. When Lorenzo makes a sarcastic comment about prayer, Meridian suggests that things began and may end for Black people with “the Bible and the... (full context)

Meridian Henry Character Analysis

Meridian Henry Quotes in Blues for Mister Charlie

Act 1 Quotes

Act 3 Quotes

Meridian Henry Character Timeline in Blues for Mister Charlie