Characters

The most important characters in Langston Hughes’ “One Friday Morning” are Nancy Lee Johnson and Miss O’Shay. Nancy Lee is an African-American high school student. Having experienced direct discrimination for the first time, Nancy Lee realizes that the American Dream is not accessible to everyone, and she decides to fight for equality and fairness for all.

Miss O’Shay, Nancy Lee’s vice principal, has also experienced discrimination as a woman of Irish origin. She gives Nancy Lee a motivating speech about how people who are met with prejudice need to work to bring true democracy to the US. The other characters that interact with Nancy Lee are relevant to the social setting, as they show the challenges African Americans have had to face in relation to prejudice and discrimination. 

You can read a full characterization of Nancy Lee Johnson and Miss O’Shay in the following section.