# Buster — Not Without Laughter character guide

> Buster in Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Willie-Mae, Willie, Mae, Bert

**First appearance:** 0001-ii-conversation

## Snapshot

A light-skinned boy who trades verses with Sandy against the chicken-box, Willie-Mae slips through Stanton's color line with an ease that unsettles everyone watching.

## Who they are

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 sister's place in the same family make him a walking question in Stanton, where the color line is drawn young and drawn hard. Through him Hughes quietly tests what friendship and kinship mean when race refuses to stay put, and the ease between the two boys becomes its own small argument against the town's assumptions.

## Relationships

### [Sandy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/sandy)

_friendship_

Buster is Sandy's close friend and companion, often getting into mischief together in their neighborhood.

### [Sandy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/sandy)

_friendship_

Buster is Sandy's close friend and companion, often getting into mischief together in their neighborhood.

### [Sandy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/sandy)

_friendship_

Buster is Sandy's close friend and companion, often getting into mischief together in their neighborhood.

## In the story

### [Conversation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/chapters/ii-conversation)

Buster plays with Sandy under the apple tree, making mud balls and pies.

### [Carnival](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/chapters/ix-carnival)

Plays with Sandy in the backyard before Sandy's injury.

### [X: Punishment](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/chapters/x-punishment)

Sandy's playmate, who giggles and reveals Sandy's candy purchase to Aunt Hager.

### [XI: School](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/chapters/xi-school)

Goes uptown with Sandy to buy books and has learned to swear better than Sandy.

### [One by One](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/chapters/xv-one-by-one)

Plays with Sandy; his mother discusses his behavior and the dangers of him acting white.

### [Children's Day](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/chapters/xviii-children-s-day)

Willie-Mae (Buster) accompanies Sandy to the park in her white dress and new shoes, is turned away, and cries afterward. Aunt Hager comforts her.

### [A Shelf of Books](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/chapters/xxiv-a-shelf-of-books)

Buster teases Sandy about his studiousness and a girl, and invites him to Cudge Windsor's pool hall to play billiards.

### [Pool Hall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/chapters/xxv-pool-hall)

Sits with Sandy and others in front of the pool hall; comments on Billy Sanderlee's piano playing.

### [XXVI: The Doors of Life](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/chapters/xxvi-the-doors-of-life)

Buster jokes about Sandy's thinking and declares his plan to pass for white in a big city, wanting his kids to be so light they won't face a color line.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters/buster
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/not_without_laughter_se/characters