Dread Nation

Katherine Devereaux is one of Jane’s classmates and “the prettiest girl at Miss Preston’s” (13). Throughout the novel, Jane refers to Katherine as “offensively pretty” (13); whereas Jane flouts the rules of Miss Preston’s, Katherine has adopted a strict adherence to policies and procedures. Jane describes Katherine as having “light skin, golden curls, and blue eyes” (13). Katherine’s complexion causes her to frequently be mistaken for a white woman. Jane and Katherine have a checkered past and do not get along at the beginning of the novel. However, they become friends over the course of the story, and Jane learns that there is more to Katherine than just a pretty face.

Katherine has a particular love of fashion and looking her best. Although she is a strict rule-follower, Katherine still tries to wear a corset when she can, which is forbidden to the Miss Preston’s girls. Jane often scolds her for wearing something that might restrict her ability to run or breathe during a fight, but Katherine declares: “[T]he day I cannot take down a few shamblers wearing something fashionable is the day I turn in my rifle” (437). Katherine genuinely enjoys dressing like a lady, not because it is expected of her, but because it gives her a sense of freedom to express herself with her fashion.

Katherine’s announcement that she doesn’t want to marry anyone strikes Jane as odd. She tells Jane that she doesn’t want to marry a man or a woman, and Ireland uses this dialogue to highlight a very modern discussion about sexuality in this world set in the 1880s. Katherine says, “[I] hate knowing that my face is worth more than all the rest of me” (361). Because of her looks, people constantly try to tie her down to a life of matrimony. Jane may be the strong, independent lead of the novel, but Katherine craves her own brand of independence. She desires to “see the world” and “write [her] own future” (363). Jane grows to respect Katherine’s dreams.

Jackson is Jane’s ex-boyfriend and partner in crime. He runs various get-rich-quick schemes in Baltimore, and according to Jane, “there ain’t much in Baltimore County that goes on without Red Jack being involved, legal or otherwise” (51). Jackson’s nickname, “Red Jack,” refers to the lighter color of his skin, and Jane frequently points out how handsome he is. Ireland uses the names “Jackson” and “Red Jack'' interchangeably throughout the novel to signal the shift between his two personas: whereas “Red Jack” is the criminal who will “beat a man near to death, all while wearing a smile” (54), Jackson is the boy Jane “once kissed in the moonlight” (127).

Jane explains that she met Jackson during her nighttime sneaking around outside of Miss Preston’s, and they struck up a relationship. However, “he’d told me that he didn’t love me, that we were better off alone than together” (290), and the two broke up. Because of this, Jane has a complex relationship with Jackson. She admits that she loves him, but she also threatens him with bodily harm when he annoys her with his flirtatious advances. At the beginning of the novel, Jane and Jackson have an uneasy agreement: “He’s the one who smuggles me my news stories, even a book every now and again, in exchange for helping him with this dark deed or that one” (53). Their relationship has become all business, but Jane still experiences jealousy when Jackson and Katherine are around one another.

Jane and Jackson are both stubborn, but unlike Jane, Jackson is impulsive. He doesn’t plan things well, choosing to fly by the seat of his pants. Jane says, “That boy is all impulse” (194). For example, he sneaks into Mayor Carr’s office to find out what happened to Lily but fails to think about the fact that he can’t read anything he finds, and when the train arrives in Summerland, he doesn’t think before punching Mr. Redfern and trying to take off into the wilderness with no food, water, or weapons. At the same time, Jackson is fiercely protective of his sister Lily, and he is a passion-driven person who cares deeply for his friends and family.

Gideon Carr is the tinkerer of Summerland, and the son of Mayor Carr. He is respectful and gentle, and although Jane describes Gideon as not being handsome, “there’s something indescribably appealing about his face” (205). Because Jane is an intelligent person who is attracted to intelligence, she finds herself drawn to Gideon and his mind. However, she tries to remind herself that “he’s probably a rat bastard, since he’s working with the sheriff” (205). Throughout her life, Jane has not been respected by white men, but Gideon breaks this cycle and treats Jane like an equal.

Gideon is the only white man in Summerland who is willing to talk about the dysfunction of the town. He explains that Summerland was his idea; he wanted a place where people of all races could be equals and start over again in the aftermath of the Civil War. But his father, Mayor Carr, turned Summerland into “a Survivalist nightmare” (311) where religion and racism victimize people of color, and the town is nothing like what Gideon imagined. He is full of passion and conviction as he tells Jane about his outrage, and Jane says that “there’s something about watching a man talk with that much passion that makes [her] sit up and take notice” (309). Gideon may be the mild-mannered tinkerer, but he has a depth of compassion and vision that would make him a far better leader than his own father, and despite her hatred for Mayor Carr.

Despite his bookish demeanor, Gideon isn’t afraid to stand up to bullies when he needs to. During Jane’s whipping, Gideon is the one who alerts Katherine and brings her to speak out against the punishment. Gideon tells the sheriff that “it is said that the man who exercises compassion is the wisest of all” (320-321), and he urges the sheriff to think before continuing this punishment. Ireland uses this moment to highlight the key difference between Gideon and the sheriff: Unlike the sheriff, Gideon is compassionate and considerate, and although Summerland didn’t become what he hoped, Gideon still wants to do his part to make the town a better place by treating its citizens with patience and understanding.