Harlem Family

Character Analysis

Elizabeth and Gabriel's other children don't play as big a part in the novel as John. Roy Grimes, their oldest child, is everything that John isn't. Where John is meek and mild, Roy is wild and rude.

His Aunt Florence says he's the only one of the four children "'that's liable to go out and break his neck'" (1.1.185), because he's so uncontrollable. Sarah Grimes, on the other hand, is a goody two-shoes but so little she doesn't really do much. Ruth Grimes is a baby, 'nuff said. She's probably adorable.