Harper is a twenty-year-old staff member at Nickel Academy. A white man who grew up around Nickel because his mother worked there, Harper is used to interacting with the school’s students. Unlike the other staff members, he presents himself in a friendly, relatable manner, even establishing something of a friendship with Turner and Elwood, since he’s their supervisor on the Community Service work team. In this capacity, he drives Turner and Elwood off campus to illicitly sell food and supplies that the school receives from the government. He also drops them off at the houses of various powerful townspeople so that the boys can do chores for them. Despite his suggestion that he sees Turner and Elwood as equals, though, Harper is the person who eventually shoots and kills Elwood when he and Turner try to escape.
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Harper Character Timeline in The Nickel Boys
The timeline below shows where the character Harper appears in The Nickel Boys. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter Eight
...work assignment. Reporting to the warehouse, he sees Turner with a young white staffer named Harper. Harper is the head of the school’s Community Service initiative. After saying that Elwood will...
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On Elwood’s first day on the Community Service team, he, Turner, and Harper go around the town of Eleanor unloading food and various supplies to local shops. These...
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When Elwood and Turner finish their work for the day, Harper picks them up. On the way home, Elwood tries to commit everything about the outside...
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Chapter Nine
Two days later, Harper tells Turner and Elwood that Spencer and the board members of Nickel are, in fact,...
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Chapter Ten
On the day of the luncheon, Turner and Elwood are in downtown Eleanor with Harper when Harper tells them that he’ll be back soon. Suddenly, then, the boys are on...
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When Harper returns, he brings Elwood and Turner back to Nickel. Upon their arrival, they learn that...
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Chapter Fourteen
...lunch, Elwood and the other boys set out once again for the football bleachers, but Harper stops Elwood and tells him to go deliver a message to another teacher, saying that...
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Knowing that delivering Harper’s message will make it impossible for him to slip the letter to the inspectors before...
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After giving Turner the letter, Elwood delivers Harper’s message, taking the long way back to the dorms on his return because he’s nervous...
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Chapter Sixteen
...the tall grass. Behind them, the Community Service van comes to a sudden stop, and Harper and Hennepin jump out holding shotguns. At the end of the field stands another fence,...
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