Previous
Pete Spivey
Mrs. Wilhelmina Henry, called Mother Henry, is mother to Meridian Henry and grandmother to Richard Henry. Her parents were born in slavery; Mother Henry, hoping to learn more than them because she was born free, eventually decided that the purpose of her life was to provide for her family and teach her children religion. After Richard returns home after eight years in New York City to recover from a heroin addiction, he reveals to Mother Henry that he has a gun for self-defense against white people. She unsuccessfully tries to convince him to give it to her. After Lyle Britten’s trial for Richard’s murder, Mother Henry swears under oath that she never saw Richard with a gun—and swears again even after the racist white defense lawyer (The State) implicitly threatens her with a perjury charge.
Mother Henry Quotes in Blues for Mister Charlie
The Blues for Mister Charlie quotes below are all either spoken by Mother Henry or refer to Mother 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:
).
Act 1 Quotes
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:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Richard: My mother fell down the steps of that damn white hotel? My mother was pushed—you remember yourself how them white bastards was always sniffing around my mother, always around her—because she was pretty and black!
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Blues for Mister Charlie LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Mother Henry Character Timeline in Blues for Mister Charlie
The timeline below shows where the character Mother Henry appears in Blues for Mister Charlie. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
Meridian’s mother, Mother Henry , enters. More Black students—including Juanita, Lorenzo, and Pete—enter carrying signs and looking like they’ve...
(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, Richard...
(full context)
Richard asks Mother Henry what she found out. She says she learned to care for her family and instill...
(full context)
Mother Henry asks why Richard didn’t come home. He says he wanted Meridian to be proud of...
(full context)
Richard takes out a gun and tells Mother Henry that he’ll “take one of the bastards with me” if he needs to. Mother Henry...
(full context)
Car headlights pass through the church windows, and everyone goes silent. The office telephone rings. Mother Henry answers; afterward, she tells the others that a man named Freddy Roberts just discovered two...
(full context)
...Richard claims “there’s nothing to forgive”; then he takes out his gun, says it upset Mother Henry , and asks Meridian to hold it for him—until Richard asks for it. Meridian agrees...
(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 had taken a...
(full context)
Act 2
After the sermon, Mother Henry lines up the mourners to say their farewells to Richard. Parnell enters looking worse for...
(full context)
Act 3
...not for her, and wonders whether similar tragedies blighted the life of her mother and Mother Henry . She thinks she’ll end up caring for another man someday, whether that man is...
(full context)
On the next day of the trial, Mother Henry is called to the stand. When the State, calling her “Mrs. Henry,” says that she...
(full context)
The State asks Mother Henry whether she ever saw Richard acting like he was on drugs. She says no, except...
(full context)
...him, a white man, that way—and that he feels no regret. Jo hurries him away. Mother Henry tells those remaining in the church that they need “to march” now. When Lorenzo makes...
(full context)
