# Not Without Laughter — Character guide

> Key figures in Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes.

- [Sandy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/sandy.md): Sandy moves between his grandmother's washtubs, his mother's kitchen shifts, and the hotel where he runs errands for tips, absorbing the town's color lines and class lines as he goes. He wonders what his wandering father
- [Annjee](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/annjee.md): Annjee works long days at Mrs. Rice's and comes home to read and reread Jimboy's pencilled letters, certain he loves her even when he leaves. She takes Sandy to the theater to see her sister Harriett sing, laughing nervo
- [Aunt Hager Williams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/aunt_hager_williams.md): Hager rules her kitchen with Scripture and a round washing stick, scolding Harriett for dancing and hotels while defending Annjee's hard-won respectability. She keeps the stove blazing on Saturday nights so Sandy comes h
- [Harriett](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/harriett.md): Harriett comes home smelling of perfume and pomade, drops a plum in Sandy's hand, and trades barbs with her mother about Maudel, the Waiters' Ball, and the sin of hotel work. She is tired of tips and insults and back doo
- [Jimboy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/jimboy.md): Jimboy arrives home with a hurt back and a song, teaching Sandy to pick a chord under the apple tree and to box in the yard. He works harder than any man on the gang when he works at all, but he is a great big kid, cut o
- [Tempy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/tempy.md): Tempy collects rents, buys houses, and measures her distance from the washtubs and back doors of her mother's world. Harriett sneers that when niggers get up in the world they act just like white folks, and Tempy is the 
- [Buster](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/buster.md): Willie-Mae—called Buster by the children who share his games—sits with Sandy in the yard while Harriett's blues rise into the night, trading the old songs back and forth as equals. His white-looking face and his black si
- [Sister Johnson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/sister_johnson.md): A gossipy neighbor and church member in the community.
- [Jimmy Lane](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/jimmy_lane.md): A local boy and friend of Sandy's.
- [Pansetta Young](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/pansetta_young.md): A girl Sandy admires and later dates.
- [Charlie Nutter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/charlie_nutter.md): A man from the community who interacts with the family.
- [Billy Sanderlee](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/billy_sanderlee.md): A boy who works with Sandy at the barbershop.
- [Madam de Carter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/madam_de_carter.md): A wealthy woman who hires Harriett as a maid.
- [Uncle Dan Givens](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/uncle_dan_givens.md): An older man who tells stories to the children.
- [Jap Logan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/jap_logan.md): A local troublemaker and drunkard.
- [Pete Scott](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/pete_scott.md): A local musician and friend of Jimboy.
- [Ma Bailey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/ma_bailey.md): An elderly woman who helps care for Sandy.
- [Mr. Prentiss](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/mr_prentiss.md): A local barber who gives Sandy a job.
- [Sadie Butler](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/sadie_butler.md): A girl Sandy meets at school.
- [Moses Jenkins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/moses_jenkins.md): A local handyman and friend of the family.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters