Characters

The boy

The main character of the short story “Blackberries” by Leslie Norris is the young boy. His age is not mentioned, but he is getting his hair cut for the first time, which shows he must be a small child. At the same time, he knows how to read a little but not well, which shows he probably has not started school yet. He is an only child, and his grandfather is mentioned. We do not know his name, which suggests that the story focuses on his experiences and on what causes him to start growing up.

He is small, and the barber needs to put a board across the arms of the chair for the boy to sit on in order to be able to cut his hair. His hair is curly and red, like his grandfather’s was when he was young (p. 56, ll. 14-16). The boy’s face is “pale and large” (p. 56, l. 15). He wears a new red and blue cap his mother bought for him (p. 57, l. 7).

The boy is well-behaved and waits patiently while his mother runs errands...