# Walter Thomas — The Mule-Bone character guide

> Walter Thomas in The Mule-Bone by Langston Hughes.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Walter, Walter Yeah, Walter Aw, Walter Hey, Walter Looka, Walter Teet, Walter Winking, Walter Dave

**First appearance:** 0002-act-i

## Snapshot

A porch-corner wit with a gift for the devastating comparison, he reduces mules and women alike to one-line verdicts.

## Who they are

Walter Thomas is one of the two village wags who anchor the store-porch banter, trading barbs with Lige Mosely while the men chew cane and pass around a mule's hock-bone. He is the one who says the dead mule was so skinny you could do a week's washing on his ribs, and later the one who notes that Teet used to be fat as a butterball and is now too skinny. His humor is quick, a little cruel, and deeply social — it polices who is admired and who is mocked. He gives the play its comic rhythm and its sense of a community that talks about everyone.

## Relationships

### [Lige](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mule_bone_se/characters/lige)

_friendship_

Lige and Walter Thomas are close friends and companions, often seen together in social settings.

### [Lige](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mule_bone_se/characters/lige)

_friendship_

Lige and Walter Thomas are close friends and companions, often seen together in social settings.

### [Lige](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mule_bone_se/characters/lige)

_friendship_

Lige and Walter Thomas are close friends and companions, often seen together in social settings.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mule_bone_se/characters/walter_thomas
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mule_bone_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mule_bone_se/characters