Maud Martha Character Analysis

Maud Martha Brown

Maud Martha Brown is a Black woman who lives her life on the South Side of Chicago in the first half of the 20th century. She is seven when the book begins, and in her… read analysis of Maud Martha Brown

Paul Phillips

Paul Phillips is Maud Martha’s husband. A light-skinned Black man, his appearance gives him a modicum of privilege within the Black community, although he frets because his features are still stereotypically Black. His concern… read analysis of Paul Phillips

Helen Brown

Helen Brown is the older sister of Maud Martha and Harry and the daughter of Abraham and Belva. Where Maud Martha is large, dark, and wild-haired, Helen is dainty, fair, and suave. As such… read analysis of Helen Brown

Belva Brown

Belva Brown is the wife of Abraham and the mother of Helen, Maud Martha, and Harry. She’s a loving and doting mother when her children are small, and she continues to invest… read analysis of Belva Brown

Abraham Brown

Abraham Brown is the husband of Belva and the father of Helen, Maud Martha, and Harry. He works as a janitor and gives his family a comfortable life, even though they come… read analysis of Abraham Brown

Harry Brown

Harry is the son of Abraham and Belva and the brother of Helen and Maud Martha. Although he and Maud Martha are very close when they are young, as he grows older, he begins… read analysis of Harry Brown

David McKemster

David McKemster is Maud Martha’s second boyfriend. In contrast to Russell, he’s quite serious. But while Maud Martha seems to admire his intellectualism, she doesn’t share his desire to break into the ranks… read analysis of David McKemster

Sonia Johnson

Sonia Johnson is a Black businesswoman who owns a salon on Chicago’s South Side. She does Maud Martha’s hair. When she overhears an overtly racist comment made by the makeup saleswoman, she declines… read analysis of Sonia Johnson

Mrs. Burns-Cooper

Mrs. Burns-Cooper is the wealthy White woman who hires Maud Martha as a maid. Only a little older than Maud Martha herself, Mrs. Burns-Cooper has high demands of her domestic staff, even though she perceives… read analysis of Mrs. Burns-Cooper

Miss Josephine Alberta Snow

Josephine is a neighbor of Maud Martha and Paul. She is around 60 years old, and she lives alone. Evidently, she never married, but she lived a life of the mind. She graduated from… read analysis of Miss Josephine Alberta Snow

Oberto

Along with his wife Marie, Oberto is one of Maud Martha’s and Paul’s neighbors. The owner of a grocery store, he is relatively prosperous and has the money for a three-room apartment… read analysis of Oberto

Eugena Banks

Eugena Banks is a neighbor of Maud Martha and Paul. A White woman from Dayton, Ohio, she lives in the same South Side neighborhood (and apartment building) in part because she’s married to a… read analysis of Eugena Banks

Clement Lewy

Clement Lewy is a neighbor of Maud Martha and Paul. Only in second grade, Clement is a spirited, intelligent, and talented little boy whose father abandoned him and his mother when he was younger… read analysis of Clement Lewy

Marie

Marie is the wife of Oberto and a neighbor of Maud Martha and Paul. A dainty, lovely, spoiled woman, Marie is a poor housekeeper and spends most of her days tending to her own… read analysis of Marie

Teenie Thompson

Teenie is a neighbor of Maud Martha and Paul. She works as a housekeeper for a wealthy White family in one of the suburbs north of Chicago. She’s well aware of the way that… read analysis of Teenie Thompson

Maryginia Washington

Maryginia Washington is a neighbor of Maud Martha and Paul. She is in her sixties and never married. A mixed-race woman, she claims to be a direct descendant of George Washington (by implication, via… read analysis of Maryginia Washington

Mrs. “Rem” Whitestripe

Mrs. Whitestripe is the wife of Mr. Whitestripe and a neighbor of Maud Martha and Paul. Although she appears to be sickly, and she and her husband are quite poor (they can only afford… read analysis of Mrs. “Rem” Whitestripe

Minor Characters

Russell

Russell is Maud Martha’s first boyfriend. Charming, charismatic, sexy, and fun, he’s quite a ladies’ man. But Maud Martha concludes that he lacks the substance and seriousness she’s looking for in a man.

Wilma

Wilma is the wife of Magnicentius and a neighbor of Oberto, Marie, Maud Martha, and Paul. Although she’s a much better cook than Marie, Oberto (and general consensus) considers her less desirable because she does not have good personal hygiene.

Viota

Viota, the wife of Leon, is a neighbor of Marie, Oberto, Maud Martha, and Paul. The neighbors make comparisons between her and Marie, finding Viota a much better housekeeper yet far less dainty and beautiful woman.

Nathalia

Nathalia is the wife of John and a neighbor of Oberto, Marie, Maud Martha, and Paul. Her housekeeping skills, like Viota’s, contrast favorably with Marie’s, but unlike Marie (and like Wilma) she doesn’t attend to personal hygiene very well and always smells bad.

Richard

Richard was a neighbor of Maud Martha and Paul, who worked as a delivery driver. But as his bosses cut his wages, he became incapable of supporting his family—a wife, twin toddlers, and an infant—so he abandoned them.

Mr. “Coopie” Whitestripe

Mr. Whitestripe is the husband of Mrs. Whitestripe and a neighbor of Maud Martha and Paul. The Whitestripes are quite poor in terms of money, but rich in terms of love. They remind Maud Martha of Romeo and Juliet.

Howie Joe Jones

Howie Joe Jones is a Black singer whom Maud Martha sees performing when she is 16. Although people celebrate Jones’s voice and he is quite a celebrity, Maud Martha thinks that the kind of hero-worship he receives is meaningless.

Ernestine Brown

Ernestine Brown is the mother of Abraham and the grandmother of Helen, Maud Martha, and Harry. She dies when Maud Martha is still fairly young, giving Maud Martha her first experience with death.

Hatshop Manager

The hatshop manager is a White woman who tries to sell Maud Martha a hat. Although she’s less overtly prejudicial or offensive in her demeanor toward Maud Martha than the makeup saleswoman, she nevertheless typifies the racism and microaggressions Black Americans have long faced.

Miss Ingram

Miss Ingram is a makeup saleswoman. She is a fashionably-dressed White woman who stops by Sonia Johnson’s salon hoping to make a sale. While there, she makes a racially offensive comment.

Paulette

Paulette is the daughter of Maud Martha and Paul. She’s still a small child when the book ends.

Tim

Tim is the uncle of Helen, Maud Martha, and Harry. He dies at some point during Maud Martha’s childhood, and his funeral gives her a chance to reflect on life and death.

Mrs. Maxawanda Barksdale

Mrs. Maxawanda Barksdale is a neighbor of Maud Martha and Paul who drops by to offer congratulations after Paulette’s birth and who occasionally babysits Paulette for Maud Martha.

Maella

Maella is the beautiful, buxom, light-skinned, red-headed woman with whom Paul dances (instead of Maud Martha) at the Foxy Cats Dawn Ball.

Charles

Charles is a White boy who takes Maud Martha out on one date.

Nannie

Nannie is Tim’s wife and the aunt of Helen, Maud Martha, and Harry.

Magnicentius

Magnicentius is a baker and the husband of Wilma. He and his wife are neighbors of Oberto, Marie, Maud Martha, and Paul.

Leon

Leon is the husband of Viota and a neighbor of Oberto, Marie, Maud Martha, and Paul. He drives a Coca-Cola truck for a living.

John

John is the husband of Nathalia and a neighbor of Marie, Oberto, Maud Martha, and Paul. He takes in and cleans laundry for a living.

Mrs. Cray

Mrs. Cray is a neighbor of Maud Martha and Paul. She assists with Paulette’s birth.

Binnie

Binnie is a neighbor of Maud Martha and Paul. A troubled young man, he stays with his mother when he’s not institutionalized.

Maud Martha Characters