# The Uncalled — Character guide

> Key figures in The Uncalled by Paul Laurence Dunbar.

- [Fred Brent](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/fred_brent.md): Raised by the stern Miss Prime after his mother's death, Fred grows into a gifted orator whom Dexter hails as a "boy preacher" — a label he detests as much as the town's whispered reminders of his parents' disgrace. He t
- [Miss Hester Prime](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/miss_hester_prime.md): Miss Hester Prime is the woman who, amid the gossip and grudges of Margaret Brent's deathbed, astonishes her neighbors by claiming the child as her own burden. She spars openly with women like Mandy Warren, defending her
- [Eliphalet Hodges](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/eliphalet_hodges.md): Eliphalet Hodges moves through Dexter's church life as a quiet, good-hearted deacon, watching Fred's rise with a mixture of pride and anxious sympathy. Where others lecture Fred on duty, Eliphalet whispers that he knows 
- [Mrs. Hester Hodges](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/mrs_hester_hodges.md): Mrs. Hodges runs her household with a firm moral ledger, lumping baseball with dancing as idle wastes of a preacher's precious time. She welcomes Fred into her home and frets over his soul, but her well-meant lectures on
- [Mrs. Sallie Martin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/mrs_sallie_martin.md): Mrs. Martin belongs to the circle of Dexter women who gather to lay out Margaret Brent and then debate, with astonishing speed, who should take the orphaned child. She is among the astonished chorus when Miss Prime decla
- [Tom Brent](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/tom_brent.md): Tom Brent is a brute and a drunkard who beat his wife, drove her to divorce and drink, and vanished from Dexter without a trace. Though he never appears in the flesh, his reputation precedes Fred everywhere — when the yo
- [Elizabeth Simpson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/elizabeth_simpson.md): Elizabeth is the daughter of the older minister whose pulpit Brent inherits, and her steady Sunday walks home with Brent have the whole town reading their future in every glance. The match is smooth, sanctioned by both f
- [Mr. Simpson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/mr_simpson.md): Elizabeth's father, a minister in the community.
- [Mr. Perkins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/mr_perkins.md): A local man who interacts with Fred and the community.
- [Mrs. Warren](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/mrs_warren.md): A widow who boards Fred when he returns to town.
- [Mrs. Davis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/mrs_davis.md): A neighbor and mother of Sophy and Melissy.
- [Daniel Hastings](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/daniel_hastings.md): An elderly man in the community, often consulted for wisdom.
- [Melissy Davis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/melissy_davis.md): Daughter of Mrs. Davis, a young girl in the neighborhood.
- [Margaret Brent](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/margaret_brent.md): Fred's deceased mother, who died when he was young.
- [Willie Tompkins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/willie_tompkins.md): A boyhood friend of Fred's in the village.
- [Sophy Davis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/sophy_davis.md): Another daughter of Mrs. Davis, friend of the family.
- [Mrs. Smith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/mrs_smith.md): A minor character in the community, often mentioned in passing.
- [Dexter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_uncalled_se/characters/dexter.md): A horse owned by the Hodges family.

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