Mrs. Saunders (Ma) Character Analysis

Mrs. Saunders is the mother of Dave and his little brother, as well as the wife of Bob Saunders, living with all of them on the plantation of the white Southern landowner Mr. Hawkins. Although Dave is employed by Mr. Hawkins to plow the fields of the plantation, Mr. Hawkins pays Dave’s wages directly to Mrs. Saunders, which sets into motion the events of the story. When Dave makes his plans to buy a gun from Joe’s store to prove that he’s a man, he has to ask his mother for two dollars out of the money he’s earned. As a no-nonsense, frugal woman who is saving money to buy winter clothes for the family, Dave’s mother is reluctant to give Dave money to buy a gun. Still, Dave knows he is more likely to get the money from his mother than from his father, particularly if he can get her alone. In the end, Dave succeeds in getting the money from his mother by appealing to his father’s authority: he says that his father deserves a gun and that as soon as Dave buys the gun, he’ll hand it over to his father. At this point, Mrs. Saunders agrees that her husband should have a gun, which signals that, like Dave, Mrs. Saunders has internalized a respect for masculine physical power. Rather than trying to obtain more power and respect as Dave does, Dave’s mother plays a domestic role and answers to her husband. The fact that Mrs. Saunders is the only female character with a significant role in the story further draws attention to the patriarchal nature of life on the plantation.