The Garies and Their Friends

The Ellis family is an educated free Black family in Philadelphia and acts as the primary protagonists of The Garies and Their Friends. The Ellis family consists of Mr. Charles Ellis, a carpenter; Mrs. Ellis, a homemaker; and their three children: Esther, the beautiful, easy-going eldest; Caroline, or “Caddy,” “plain in person, and of a rather shrewish disposition” (16), who is a dedicated house cleaner; and Charlie, the intelligent, clever, and mischievous youngest child. The Ellis family are a foil to the Garie family. As Robert Reid-Pharr points out in his introduction to the novel, the Ellis family is poor, whereas the Garie family is rich; the Ellises are industrious, whereas the Garie family is idle; and the Ellis family is Black, whereas the Garie family is multiracial (x).

The Ellis family is forced to grapple with the tragedy of the attack on Mr. Ellis and the loss of their home. In the beginning of the novel, Mr. Ellis is a friendly, amiable, and hardworking carpenter who takes his role as responsible patriarch and provider seriously. The attack takes away any possibility that he can provide for his family, especially as his fingers are cut off by attackers. Afterward, he experiences what may now be identified as post-traumatic stress disorder: He is highly reactive to loud noises and constantly relives the horror of the attack.

In keeping with the gendered politics of the time, Esther and Caddy have a limited education, although they do attend lectures at the library. They spend most of their time sewing to earn money for the family. However, they prove themselves to be capable of self-defense when they contribute to the efforts against the mob while at Mr. Walters’s home. Esther learns to load a rifle, while Caddy works with Kirch to dump boiling water on the attackers. Esther marries Mr. Walters, with whom she has three children. Caddy marries Kirch, with whom she has one daughter.

Charlie is the character with the most character development. He is initially a carefree but clever boy who most enjoys playing marbles and spending time with his best friend, Kirch. When he is taken out of school to work as a servant at the Thomas residence, he revolts against being forced into the position of servitude expected of Black men in his time. He later takes advantage of the opportunities presented to him in the countryside at Mrs. Bird’s residence and uses the art skills he learns there to secure a position as an engraver. This helps him find work in a skilled profession rather than as a servant. By the end of the novel, Charlie loses some of his mischievousness and becomes a hardworking man. He fosters a love of marbles in his nephew, Esther’s son, also named Charlie.

The Stevens family acts as the antagonists in The Garies and Their Friends. The Stevens family is white and consists of Mr. George Stevens, a racist lawyer with the nickname “Slippery George”; Mrs. Stevens, a homemaker; and their two children, George, Jr., and Elizabeth, or “Lizzy.” Mr. Stevens, motivated by racism and greed, murders Mr. Garie to get the inheritance. Keeping this secret causes him to develop an alcohol addiction and prematurely deteriorate into illness. He is persistently blackmailed by McCloskey, his collaborator in the murder and riots. George, Jr., is first introduced wantonly killing flies over his younger sister’s objections, suggesting that he is a cruel person even as a child. As an adult, he is shown to be a dissolute racist who lives off his father’s wealth and acts aggressively toward his sister. Motivated by the same prejudice as his father, George, Jr., reveals Clarence Garie’s secret heritage to Clarence’s fiancée and friends, causing Clarence to be isolated.

Lizzy is the only kind member of the Stevens family. As a child, she shows her dedication to the Garies by waiting outside for them on the way to school even after her mother forbids her from socializing with them. She has a crush on Clarence and is seen kissing him. She cares for her father in his decline despite his gruff treatment of her. After the revelation that her father is a murderer, she does not object to the redistribution of the Garie inheritance to Clarence and Emily, a sign of her sense of justice and virtue.

Kinch is Charlie Ellis’s sidekick and a comic figure who adds humor to the narrative. Kinch is a loyal and dedicated friend to Charlie, and he does whatever he can to see Charlie. For instance, when Charlie is working at the Thomas residence, Kinch camps out outside or sneaks in to see him. He often leads Charlie into hijinks such as marble competitions and other schoolboy pranks. Kinch helps Charlie escape his position as a servant by assisting Charlie in the pranks that eventually get him fired, as when Kinch releases a cat into the house to fight the cook’s cat, Tom. When Charlie leaves for the countryside with Mrs. Bird to recover from his broken arm, Kinch is devastated.

Kinch’s transformation from a silly boy into a respectable man is shown in his attention to his wardrobe. As a child, despite his father owning a used clothing store, Kinch often wears dirty, worn-out clothes, and he does not put effort into his appearance. After Charlie advises him that it’s important to present oneself well, Kinch becomes “a full-blown dandy” as an adult (340).

Kinch likewise transforms from a student who struggles in school to a well-established businessman. He eventually marries Caddy Ellis, with whom he has a daughter. He is happy in his marriage, although it is humorously noted that if Caddy “would let him smoke where he liked—he would be much more contented” (392).