Father Comes Home from the Wars Characters

Hero

Hero is a slave and the protagonist. Loyal to Boss-Master despite his abuse and disloyalty, Hero chooses to stay with Boss-Master even when opportunities to escape arise. By the end of the play, Hero remains loyal to Boss-Master but has chosen his own identity. In Part 3, he changes his name to Ulysses.

Boss-Master

Boss-Master (called “the Colonel” in Part 2) owns slaves Hero, Homer, Penny and others. Dishonest and manipulative, Boss-Master periodically promises Hero freedom in exchange for huge requests he makes of him, but he never follows through.

Homer

Homer is a slave who lives with Hero and falls in love with Hero’s wife, Penny. On Boss-Master’s orders, Hero cut off Homer’s foot when he tried to escape.

Penny

Penny is Hero’s loyal wife. Although she sleeps with Homer and becomes pregnant with his child, she remains emotionally loyal to Hero. When he returns from the war with a new wife, however, she takes agency over her own life and decides to run north with Homer.

Odd-See

Odd-See is Hero’s good-luck dog. At the beginning of the play, he runs off after Hero kicks him. He returns at the end, having spent the play searching for his master, staying loyal despite the abuse. In Part 3 he is called “Odyssey” or “the Odyssey Dog.”

Smith

Smith is a Union soldier wounded and captured by the Colonel in Part 2. He reveals his true identity—a Black man who can “pass” as white—to Hero when he tries to convince Hero to abandon Boss-Master and join the Union army with him.

The Oldest Old Man

The Oldest Old Man lives with Hero on Boss-Master’s land. He offers advice to Hero and treats him like a son but abandons him when he hears how Hero betrayed Homer.

The chorus

The chorus is a group of enslaved persons whose conversations give the audience information and insight. It has two parts: Part 1’s “Chorus of Less Than Desirable Slaves” and Part 3’s “Runaway Slaves.”

The musician

The musician sings at the beginning and end of each act, bringing deeper meaning to the play’s themes and messages.

The Missus

The Missus is Boss-Master’s wife.

Alberta

Alberta doesn’t appear in the play; she is Hero’s new wife, whom he brings home from the war.