Two Roads

Will Black is Cal’s father, and while he does not appear in every part of the novel, he is a constant presence because of the importance Cal places on his relationship with his father. Despite the central role Pop plays in Cal’s life, he does not change much throughout the novel and is therefore a fairly static character, for he holds the same values at the end that he does at the beginning. The only major difference occurs when he becomes happier upon deciding to work with the Bonus Army. Even after he has worked with the Bonus Army and has left it, he desires to go back and work with them again. This demonstrates that while he likes riding the rails and living a free lifestyle, he places an even greater value upon having a higher purpose than mere survival.

This desire to add new purpose to his life is most strongly illustrated through his work with the Bonus Army, but it is also demonstrated through his repeated desire to obtain a farm of his own. When he first meets Cal’s mother, they buy a farm to tend together: a solid home in which to raise their son. After Mrs. Black dies and Cal and his father are forced off the farm, Cal’s father still looks forward to the day when they can purchase another farm, for he desires to provide well for his son. In fact, this dream plays a large role in his more immediate decision to fight for the Bonus Army in the first place, for if the Bonus Army is able to accomplish its goal of gaining money for the World War I veterans, Pop just might be able to realize his original dream of regaining a farm.

The author also uses the character of Will Black to illustrate the fate of many veterans of World War I, for Pop’s intermittent bouts of “remembering” are understood to be flashbacks: manifestations of his own post-traumatic stress disorder. While the author does not address this directly, the implication of his ongoing trauma is clear when Pop is described as acting “differently” whenever he begins remembering the war. He also illustrates the more tangible fate of veterans through his work with the Bonus Army. During this time frame, veterans were not able to access all of their pay, and because of that, they and their families suffered greatly. In these ways, Pop is a well-rounded character in his own right, but rather than playing a dynamic role, he fulfills a symbolic one by representing the various challenges faced by many veterans during this era.

One of the primary values that Pop holds is loyalty. He demonstrates this by helping Miz Euler, the wife of a former comrade-in-arms, when he and Cal visit her house at the beginning of the novel. The narration implies that because he had a bond with her husband in the war, he feels obligated to repay his friend’s kindness by helping Miz Euler now. When she is kind and gives them food, they repay her by tracking down and returning the items she lost through theft. Likewise, when Dart is in danger because of his skin color, Pop risks his own safety to save his friend.

At the beginning of the novel, Pop keeps the reality of his and Cal’s Creek heritage to himself. Because of this desire to allow his son to blend in with the dominant white culture and thereby benefit from the privileges of being perceived as white, Pop never spoke to Cal as if they were not white. This masquerade is dropped as soon as he tells Cal the truth. He only hid his Creek identity to shield his son from the prejudice that comes along with identifying openly as an Indigenous person. He kept the truth from Cal because he did not want his son to be the subject of discrimination. Despite this initial reticence to tell his son the truth of his heritage, his own loyalty to his Creek people can soon be seen in his open resentment and criticism for the injustices that the white government perpetrated against his people. His loyalty to his heritage is also evident through the strong friendships he forged while at Challagi, which still remain the most significant friendships of his life.

Possum is Cal’s first and best friend at Challagi. They catch each other’s attention before they even formally meet, when Possum is in the Dress Parade and Cal is watching the activity for the first time. Possum is largely defined by his immediate willingness to accept Cal and his dedication to helping his new friend to acclimate to life at the school. At one point, Cal thinks of Possum as his Virgil, comparing him to the Roman poet who led Dante through the various levels of Hell in The Divine Comedy. Largely because of Possum, Cal is accepted quickly into the Creek gang.

Possum understands how everything works at Challagi. Because of this, he is able to help Cal keep his prized possessions safe. He also shows Cal different ways to make life at Challagi more enjoyable, such as by using the outside bathroom and sneaking out to the fires to dance at night. Through these and other acts of kindness, Possum takes on the role of both mentor and sidekick as he advises and befriends Cal. Cal makes numerous friends at Challagi, but Possum is the closest friend he gains.

Mrs. Black died before the novel’s beginning, but because she is the protagonist’s mother, her memory has a powerful influence on her son as he comes of age. She is described as having been a wise woman who perceived that Pop was Creek before he told her. She and her husband decided to raise their son as a white person in order to allow him to benefit from the privileges of claiming membership to the mainstream culture. She also had Cal’s ability to see clairvoyantly, although Cal does not realize it. This unique gift is a connection he has with his mother that he does not learn about until long after she is gone.

In a more pragmatic sense, the author uses her character to represent the fate of children on the Orphan Trains. Shortly after she arrived in the United States with her parents, they died, and she was later put on an Orphan Train. On these trains, orphans from the East Coast were sent out West. Some of these children faced severe fates, such as being enslaved, but Mrs. Black was lucky enough to find a loving home with a Polish couple, until her adoptive parents also died. Because of her affiliation with the Orphan Trains, she is one of numerous characters who is used to illustrate lesser-known facts about this time in American history.