The novel’s narrator, Ora, is a widow from a respected background. Her late husband was a prominent and respected businessman, so Ora was expected to focus on the betterment of others through charity work. She is aware that there was social pressure to uphold her husband’s image and to help advance his career by being a supportive wife and good hostess. At the time, Ora accepted this role, but throughout the course of the novel, she comes to recognize its frivolousness.

As a widower, Ora is carefree. She lives a comfortable life thanks to her husband’s success, which was made possible by her support. She is also confident and unconcerned with how others view or judge her, as evidenced by her interactions with her neighbor, Dovey Kincaid. Unlike some of the people of her race and class, Ora is accepting of others, including Eddie Mims, who is both a Black man and unhoused. While most people in her Southern town hold the traditional view that the races should remain separate, Ora sees the bigotry in this way of thinking. Over the course of the novel, she becomes cognizant of her own past errors; she thought she embraced racial equality, but she unintentionally perpetuated racial stereotypes.