Moon on a Rainbow Shawl Character Analysis

Ephraim

Ephraim is a young man who rents a room from Old Mack and is thus neighbors with Mavis, Rosa, and Charlie, Sophia, and Esther Adams. The son of a poor… read analysis of Ephraim

Sophia Adams

Sophia Adams is the longsuffering wife of Charlie Adams and the mother of Esther and the baby. She is a strong, hardworking, exhausted woman who cares very deeply about the wellbeing of the people… read analysis of Sophia Adams

Rosa Otero

Rosa is an 18-year-old orphan who works at Old Mack’s café (along with Stephen) and who is one of Old Mack’s tenants, along with Mavis, Ephraim, and Charlie, Sophia… read analysis of Rosa Otero

Esther Adams

Esther Adams is the daughter of Sophia and Charlie Adams and the older sister of the baby. She lives on the same yard as Mavis, Rosa, and Ephraim. She’s especially close… read analysis of Esther Adams

Charlie Adams

Charlie Adams is one of Old Mack’s tenants; he and his family—wife Sophia and children Esther and baby—share the yard with Rosa, Ephraim, and Mavis. Charlie grew up poor but… read analysis of Charlie Adams

Mavis

Mavis is one of Old Mack’s tenants, and she shares a yard with Rosa, Ephraim, and Charlie, Sophia, and Esther Adams. Mavis engages in sex work to make a… read analysis of Mavis

Prince

Prince is Mavis’s boyfriend. Because he works at the PX at a local American army base, he’s comparatively well off. He thus represents, in part, the better future Sophia sees on the horizon for… read analysis of Prince

Old Mack

Old Mack is a businessman and landlord who owns a local café and who rents poorly-maintained rooms at exorbitant rates to Ephraim, Mavis, Rosa Otero, and Charlie, Sophia, and Esther… read analysis of Old Mack

Murray (Boy)

Young Murray is a local boy who plays cricket for his high school. His father pays Charlie Adams to repair and maintain Murray’s cricket bats. Murray respects Charlie for his former cricket career and tries… read analysis of Murray (Boy)

Minor Characters

Policeman

The youthful policeman is only 19 years old, yet he has authority because of his job. He is part of the investigation into the robbery at Old Mack’s café and he is the one who ultimately arrests Charlie Adams for the crime.

Jeanette

Jeanette is a friend of Esther Adams. Although they live in the same neighborhood, Jeanette’s family is far better off financially than Esther’s, as they live in a nice house and can afford to hire help.

Soldier

The American soldier is a client of Mavis’s who fights with Prince when Prince discovers him in Mavis’s room.

Ketch

Ketch is a calypso singer who lives in the same neighborhood as Ephraim, Mavis, Rosa Otero, and Charlie, Sophia, and Esther Adams.

Sailor

The American sailor is one of Mavis’s clients.

Baby

The baby is the infant son of Sophia and Charlie Adams, and the younger sibling of Esther. His family hasn’t decided what to name him yet. His mother likes “David Hamilton” while his father likes “Churchill Spencer” and Esther favors “John Byron.”

Stephen

Stephen is a man who works at Old Mack’s café with Rosa Otero. When someone breaks in and steals more than $70 from the cash register, Old Mack suspects Stephen.

Grandmother

Ephraim’s grandmother raised him after his father died and his mother abandoned him. Despite her kindness, Ephraim eventually decided that she stood in the way of his dreams, so he sent her to the poor house, where she subsequently died.

Moon on a Rainbow Shawl Characters