Warriors Don't Cry

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | YA | Published in 1994

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Update-Chapters 6

Chapters 7-12

Chapters 13-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Key Figures

Melba Pattillo Beals

Melba is the author and main character of Warrior’s Don’t Cry. During the heart of the narrative, the record of happenings in 1957-58, Melba is an idealistic Black teenager who chooses to be part of the group of nine Black students to integrate previously all-white Central High School in Little Rock. Her memoir records the turbulent events surrounding Melba’s birth and her continuing education and marriage after her integral role as one of the Little Rock Nine. Melba adds an Epilogue, written in 1987, 30 years after the drama, and a 2007 Update, penned 50 years after integrating Central High.

Melba portrays herself as an inquisitive child with a keen sense of fairness and the recognition from her earliest years that Black Little Rock citizens experience prejudice and injustice. She feels a continued, palpable anxiety that she describes as a perpetual white person’s boot holding down the head of the Black person. She writes to God about this in her diary, asking when Black people will gain equality. A vacation to Cincinnati just before the 1957-58 school year reveals to Melba what living in an integrated community is like, showing her that equality among racial groups is possible.

At the beginning of her year as one of the Little Rock Nine, Melba depicts herself as idealistic, sheltered, and naive. As the year progresses, Melba transforms from a sensitive 15-year-old child who weeps in her bed when she feels sorry for herself into a hardened warrior who withstands serious physical abuse and cruel mind games. She outlasts and outsmarts those who wish to drive her out of Central. Along the way, she becomes an articulate spokesperson for the nine, gaining the admiration of Civil Rights leaders and journalists worldwide. Melba also emerges from the shelter of her family, making decisions for herself that sometimes contradict the wishes of her elders. She develops a keen insight into human nature, intuitively knowing who to trust in life-or-death situations.

Mother Lois Pattillo

Melba’s mother, usually referred to in the narrative as “Mother Lois,” is the divorced single mother of Melba and her younger brother Conrad. A seventh-grade English teacher in North Little Rock, Lois supports herself, her children, and her mother on her salary alone.

Lois has high moral standards and high expectations for her children. She teaches Melba to read before her daughter reaches school age. She keeps her obedient children on short leashes. Melba, who attracts the attention of boys as a young teen, knows her mother will not allow her to date until she is 18, and then only with a chaperone.

Lois, who understands the challenges and dangers her daughter endures, stands up for Melba in the face of every significant challenge. Though her effort is futile, Lois demands that the superintendent of schools explain what he will do to protect the nine. Confronted with losing her teaching contract if she does not force Melba to drop out of Central, Lois never entertains asking her daughter to drop out. As a professional person and mother, Lois proves she is the role model Melba needs.

Grandma India Peyton

India, referred to throughout as Grandma India, is an anchor and a fortress for Melba during the year of integration. A person of resolute faith, India counsels Melba to tell God about everything she detests and everything she wants through the pages of her diary and her prayers. India nurtures her granddaughter with tenderness after many of the horrific events she endures. When Melba narrowly avoids a rapist at age 13, India tells her to soak in a warm bath while she burns the clothes Melba wore. Yet India is also prophetic when needed. When Melba states that she wishes she were dead, her grandmother taunts her, asking why she wants to play into the hands of the segregationists.

Melba portrays India as a unique character. Grandma loves dressing up and attending Saturday wrestling matches in downtown Little Rock, where she screams her support for her favorite wrestlers. India keeps a shotgun, nicknamed Mr. Higgenbottom, handy—sometimes sleeping in a chair by the door with the gun across her lap when she fears danger. India is consummately traditional, perpetuating generations of religious and family rituals handed down to her over the generations.

India is devoutly Christian. She attends church regularly, expecting her family to do the same. Her faith is both extremely personal—she anticipates that God will respond to prayers spoken by her and her family—and quite practical. When Lois seems about to lose her teaching job, India contacts the Black bishops in the community, who respond in such a way that Lois keeps her position. Readers may conclude that India’s greatest expression of devotion, however, is her weekly prayer time with Melba, when they share their thoughts with one another, then lift them to God.

Dan

Dan, usually referred to by Melba as “Danny,” is a member of the 101st Airborne Division assigned to provide security for the Little Rock Nine in the early weeks of the 1957 school year. Dan is personally assigned to safeguard Melba, something he is intent on doing. However, his “terms of engagement” severely limit his ability to keep Melba safe. He cannot interact with other students, enter classrooms with Melba, or approach her for private conferences. Essentially, Dan can only walk with her between her classes. Despite these limitations, Dan is Melba's comfort and source of strength. During the weeks he walks with her, Dan defuses a lit stick of dynamite thrown at Melba and washes her eyes with water—saving her sight—when an attacker throws acid into her eyes.

Through Melba’s description of Dan, readers recognize how frustrated he is that he cannot do more to safeguard her. Dan is personally invested in her safety. He exceeds his orders several times by giving her personal advice. The capriciousness of guidelines given to the 101st interferes with Dan’s ability to complete his mission: The military ceases its protective service, then returns to Central when chaos ensues, only to disappear completely. When he departs for good, Melba notes that he is the first white man for whom she has ever wept.

Link

In a moment when a hostile group of white male students sees Melba standing alone and approaches her, intending to attack and perhaps kill her, a previously unknown white boy cleverly sneaks his car keys to her, allowing her to drive away unharmed. This savior is Link, a well-heeled, popular, athletic senior at Central. Before the year is out, Link slyly prevents several attacks on Melba. Slowly, Melba grows to trust Link, finding him sincere, honorable, and compassionate. Link expresses hurt and anger at the conflict stirred by the year of integration, which spoils much of his senior year and gives Central a bad reputation.

Link seeks Melba’s help caring for Nana Healey, an aged Black woman who served his family for generations before Link’s parents abruptly abandoned her. In this, Melba senses the depth of his loyalty and affection. After his graduation, Link maintains contact with Melba. Readers will likely note that Link has romantic inclinations toward Melba because he reacts angrily and cuts off contact with her when he discovers she has married a white serviceman after refusing to be seen with Link.