Warriors Don’t Cry begins when Melba and eight other black men and women in their forties return to their home state of Arkansas to meet the then-governor, Bill Clinton. Melba, the narrator and author, explains that the group, called the Little Rock Nine, is visiting Central High School in Little Rock. As teenagers in 1957, …
id=”Melba Patillo Beals”> Melba Patillo Beals – The main character and narrator of Warriors Don’t Cry. Melba is one of the Little Rock Nine (i.e., the first black students in the United States to attend a previously all-white high school). She fights racism in its many forms throughout her life.Read an in-depth analysis of Melba Patillo Beals. …
Over the course of Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba transitions from a normal teenage girl to a hardened warrior. When she starts school at Central High School, she has no idea of the hardships she will face. With Grandma India’s help, Melba learns to give up all of the things that other teenagers care about—friends, free …
Grandma India acts as Melba’s steely backbone during her struggle to integrate Central High School. Every time Melba considers abandoning the struggle, Grandma India encourages her to persist. Grandma India fortifies Melba with faith and stubbornness, and it is Grandma India who tells Melba that God’s warriors don’t cry. This is the first introduction that …
The son of a prominent white family, Link is the white student who helps Melba escape time and time again from the violent segregationists who want to kill her. His father is pro-segregation but appalled by the attacks on black teenagers and children. Though Link is popular and bound for success in the white world, …