Junie

Junie’s coming-of-age journey is defined by her search for agency, autonomy, and freedom. At 16 years old, she has never known a life outside of her enslavement on Bellereine Plantation. She grows up accepting that she has no power over her circumstances and no capacity to choose her future. However, the more conflicts she encounters at Bellereine, the more she realizes that she must take control of her fate, setting her on a path of transformation that will lead to her freedom.

Junie’s inherent physical and spiritual longing to be free is illustrated through the novel’s recurring images of Junie climbing Old Mother, walking in the forest, running through the plantation, and studying the river. While in the woods, she is surrounded by untamed land, which symbolizes her own vivacious spirit. When climbing Old Mother, she is able to look out over the land and imagine a life where she is in full control of her fate; she is situated above the plantation and thus above her enslavement. When she runs away from conversations or altercations, she is trying to free herself from her emotional discomfort. When she studies the river, she is able to imagine a route out of her enslavement.