Character Analysis
This character may be a minor one—he only appears in three back-to-back paragraphs (1.11-13)—but he's still important.
He's a cashier at the bank and a deacon in the Baptist church, two positions that indicate he has power and respectability. Of course, in the racially divided town of Jefferson, those positions mean he's a white man. He's also one of the black prostitute Nancy's customers. We're not told that directly, but it becomes clear when she demands payment from him for "three times," and he knocks her down and kicks her teeth out. Finally, he may or may not have been the one who impregnated Nancy.
The portion of the story about Mr. Stovall lays some key groundwork for the rest of the tale. Because of him, we learn what she feels so guilty about, what it is that drives her crazy, and why she fears her husband Jesus so much.
Besides establishing this basic foundation for the story, Mr. Stovall also shows the impunity with which white people in Jefferson can treat black individuals. He gets away with mistreating and using her, in other words... and she can't fight back.