Henry Brisimus Character Analysis

The sun blazes down on a field that looks like a fresh coating of snow has fallen. Every few feet a black, shiny face, covered in sweat pops up and takes a breath. Among the group of twenty or so slaves is a white face, a face as pale and white as the cotton being picked. Henry Brisimus, the son of the plantation owner, spends his days working the fields like any other slave, he talks like a slave, calls his father "massa" the only time he stops is when his dear mother calls him in for lunch and dinner because Henry feels eating with the slaves would be beneath him. Henry prefers to be called by his slave name, Moses, which he gave to himself. He often talks to the other "field niggas" about following the drinking gourd in the sky north,