# Hanby — Cane character guide

> Hanby in Cane by Jean Toomer.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** that Hanby, Mr. Samuel Hanby, Mr. Hanby

**First appearance:** 0043-part-iii-kabnis

## Snapshot

A school principal whose commanding pose and stiffened dignity mask a man who has bullied a town and owes a bill he cannot pay.

## Who they are

Mr. Samuel Hanby strikes commanding poses and retreats with managed dignity while Halsey mocks his tone and threatens him with the sheriff over an unpaid debt. He represents a respectability that has curdled into petty tyranny, and when Lewis enters, Hanby stiffens to meet him as if the room itself has been rearranged. He matters because his small abuses show how power circulates even among the oppressed, and because Kabnis's failure to put Hanby in his place marks how far the professor has slipped from direction.

## Relationships

### [Ralph Kabnis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/characters/ralph_kabnis)

_rivalry_

Hanby is a strict, authoritarian figure who clashes with Kabnis's rebellious and self-destructive behavior.

### [Lewis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/characters/lewis)

_rivalry_

Hanby and Lewis are intellectual and ideological opponents, with Hanby representing conservative authority and Lewis radical critique.

### [Ralph Kabnis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/characters/ralph_kabnis)

_rivalry_

Hanby is a strict, authoritarian figure who clashes with Kabnis's rebellious and self-destructive behavior.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/chapters/part-iii-i)

Mentioned as the principal of the school, whom Kabnis despises as a 'cockroach' and 'moral-spouter.'

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/chapters/part-iii-ii)

Referenced as Kabnis's boss and an object of Halsey's hatred.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/chapters/part-iii-iii)

Hanby, the president of the institution, demands Kabnis's resignation for drinking, displaying a condescending and self-righteous attitude.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/chapters/part-iii-iv)

Bustling and authoritarian, he orders Kabnis around with little regard for his dignity.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/characters/hanby
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/characters