Go to next section
Engelbrecht – Villafane ©2013
This section is written under the assumption that instructors utilizing this site are familiar with Slant of Light. Chapters containing descriptions and major events are provided for easy reference, although not every major event is provided for the main characters.
Major Characters (in order of appearance)
James Turner: The founder of Daybreak and the author of a book entitled Travels to Daybreak. He is married to Charlotte Turner, and they have two children (Newton and Adam) together throughout the course of the novel. While Daybreak is based upon equality, Turner is hesitant to embrace the suffragist and abolitionist movements. These events, as well as the way in which he leads Daybreak, bring up questions regarding the life and role of an idealist, hypocrisy, and the effect power has upon individuals. Turner has an affair resulting in a child (Josephine) with Marie Mercadier beginning in Chapter 13. Charlotte discovers the affair in Chapter 18, although the two mend their relationship. He follows an evacuation order in Chapter 28 and leaves with the hope of finding and serving under Captain Carr.
Charlotte Turner: Charlotte is introduced in Chapter 3. She provides an example of a very strong female protagonist and is another individual trying to remain true to her ideals while wrestling with conflicting thoughts and emotions. Charlotte and Adam Cabot meet in Chapter 4 and gradually fall in love. The romantic nature of their relationship is almost consummated in Chapter 17. She becomes Daybreak’s community president in Chapter 19.
Adam Cabot: We meet Cabot in Chapter 2 and learn that he is a man who strives to put his ideals into action as he runs for office in Kansas. Captain Carr saves him from being hanged, and he meets Charlotte in Chapter 4. Like Turner and Charlotte, Cabot’s character allows for an exploration regarding the struggles of an idealist. He loves Charlotte, but struggles between his desire to be with her and his disgust with his own hypocrisy. He admires the principles of Daybreak, but is well aware of their shortcomings, as well as the shortcomings of its founder. Sam Hildebrand shoots him in Chapter 26.
Minor Characters
The Turner/Carr Family
Newton Turner: The son of Charlotte and James, Newton is named after Charlotte’s father. James Turner learns Charlotte is pregnant with Newton in Chapter 7, and Newton’s birth takes place in Chapter 8.
Adam Turner: Charlotte and James’ second son. Charlotte tells Turner she is pregnant in Chapter 28, and they decide to name him after Adam Cabot.
Captain Newton Carr: Introduced in Chapter 3, Captain Carr is a respected army captain and is Charlotte’s father who espouses the idea “Man is a wolf to man”. He instructs cadets at West Point in the beginning of the novel. After his wife’s death, he joins James, Charlotte, and Newton in Daybreak toward the end of Chapter 9. The army requests his return to West Point in Chapter 20 to fight for the North.
Mrs. Carr: Charlotte’s mother. Mrs. Carr enters into a deep depression after Caroline’s death and dies sometime after Charlotte and James settle Daybreak.
Caroline: Charlotte’s twin sister who dies during childbirth. Readers do not meet her directly, but Charlotte reflects upon their past in Chapter 3. Antagonists
Harper Webb: George Webb’s son, also known as “Harp”, who makes and sells whiskey. Harp’s anti-social behavior and cryptic statements provide dramatic tension throughout the novel. George introduces Turner to him in Chapter 5. He attempts to court Marie Mercadier but is rejected. In Chapter 20, Charlotte learns that he is suing Daybreak over their right to live on property his father donated Turner delays the legal proceedings by reporting him as a “aiding and abetting the rebels” in Chapter 21. Harp is eventually released, and joins Sam Hildebrand and his gang in their return to Daybreak in Chapter 25. He dies in Chapter 27.
Sam Hildebrand: Turner’s first encounter with Sam takes place in Chapter 1. He reappears in Chapter 8 to ask Turner if he and his men can spend the night in Daybreak before they continue their journey to return an escaped slave to Arkansas. In Chapter 15, Sam leads him to Lysander Smith. His final and dramatic appearance in Daybreak takes place in Chapter 25.
The One-Armed Man: One of the men responsible for Smith’s death in Chapter 15, and Turner and Cabot seek revenge in Chapter 23. In Chapter 29, Hildebrand tells Charlotte that his name is Matty Cunningham.
Daybreak Citizens
Pettibone: The owner of a keelboat who takes Turner to George Webb’s land. His death is described in Chapter 17.
Charley Pettibone: Charley assists his father in taking Turner to George Webb’s land at the beginning of the novel. After his father dies in a boating accident, he comes to Daybreak in Chapter 17. George Webb takes him on as hired help until he is old enough to decide whether or not he wishes to join Daybreak. Cabot takes him in after Webb’s death in Chapter 18. He decides to fight for the South in Chapter 20.
George Webb: Turner arrives at George Webb’s farm in Chapter 5. Struck by the ideas Turner presents in Travels to Daybreak, he donates a thousand acres of his land to create a Daybreak society. He is a well respected member of the community, and shares Cabot’s concerns regarding Turner’s leadership, which they discuss in Chapter 14. He dies from a heart attack in Chapter 17.
Marie Mercadier: Marie travels to Daybreak with her father. Their journey is described in Chapter 7. She is a beautiful and intelligent young woman who is admired by the single men in Daybreak, as well as Harp Webb. She helps James Turner with his printing press and the two begin an affair in Chapter 13. We learn she is pregnant with Turner’s child in Chapter 19. In Chapter 24, she agrees to adopt a young Irish boy, Angus Flynn.
Emile Mercadier: Marie’s father who is introduced in Chapter 7. He contributes to Daybreak by making and selling shoes. In Chapter 24 we learn that he proposed to Kathleen Flanagan, an Irish immigrant, and she accepts after receiving Marie’s approval.
Mrs. Frances Wickman: Charlotte meets the Wickmans in Chapter 6. Mrs. Wickman demonstrates great strength and insight, especially when she nurses citizens suffering from cholera, although she losses both of her daughters to the illness. In Chapter 16, she gives birth to twins: Sarah and Penelope.
John Wickman: Mrs. Wickman’s husband who was a clerk on the docks before being among the first citizens of Daybreak. His wife describes him as being a man who loves to “read, read, read, and think, think, think.” Lucy and Mary Wickman: Mr. and Mrs. Wickman’s daughters who die from cholera, despite their mother’s best efforts to keep them alive.
Luke Wornall: The first citizen of Daybreak to suffer and die from cholera. He and the illness are introduced in Chapter 7. Gus Roberts and Jesse Buford also fall victim to cholera.
Benjamin Prentice: Prentice returns to Daybreak in Chapter 25 while his “foraging party” searches for food in French Mills. One of Hildebrand’s finds and returns him to Daybreak in Chapter 26. In Chapter 27, he surrenders to Captain Foutch.
George Cantwell: The first citizen of Daybreak to be expelled from the community. This event occurs in Chapter 9.
Outsiders
Harley Willingham: Willingham is the county sheriff when he first meets Turner in Chapter 6. He is a man who shifts with the winds of politics. In Chapter 24, he informs Charlotte that he has become the provost-marshal and is aiding the confederates in their search for rebels.
Hiram Foltz: Hiram introduces himself to Turner during Turner’s lecture tour in Chapter 11. He is a member of the National Anti-Slavery Society who offers to pay Turner money in exchange for allowing Lysander Smith to stay in Daybreak.
Lysander Smith: Foltz introduces Turner to Smith in Chapter 12. He comes from a privileged background and is part of the National Anti-Slavery Society. Smith is allowed to stay in Daybreak under the guise of being a botanist. The citizens of Daybreak, with the exception of Cabot, find him to be elitist and annoying. His violent death and the actions that brought it about are described in Chapter 15.
Fr. John Hogan: A minor character who appears in Chapter 7. He is a priest traveling with his fellow Irishmen out of St. Louis to Ripley County. Sheriff Willingham accompanies the group. The women from this group return to Daybreak in Chapter 24.
Grindstaff: A store owner in at town close to Daybreak who sells the community’s merchandise. Herrmann: The lawyer representing the citizens of Daybreak against the suit made by Harp Webb. He appears in Chapter 20 and disappears in Chapter 21 because, as he explains to Cabot and Charlotte, he feels unsafe in town.
