King of Ashes

Dante Carruthers is Roman’s brother and the youngest member of the Carruthers family. He has a “nouveau-Black-hipster” fashion sense, a “faux-’hawk/Afro,” and “a wispy goatee” that is “so thin it looked like [Roman] could wipe it off with his thumb and a few drops of spit” (18). Roman’s unimpressed assessment of Dante’s facial hair reflects his belief that his brother is immature and needs his protection and guidance, even though he is 30 years old. Dante is a highly sensitive individual, and this sometimes yields negative results because Roman feels compelled to shelter his little brother from the consequences of his actions.

Dante proves to be insightful and thoughtful, clearly perceiving others’ flaws and motives, such as when he predicts why Roman won’t walk away from the gang: “I know you, big brother. You love that shit, making money. You always liked it and you always been good at it” (276). Although Dante feels purposeless and is self-medicating with alcohol and drugs for much of the novel, he has a few moments of reckless courage, such as when he kills Splodie to protect Cassidy. Emotionally fragile and disconnected from reality yet capable of great bravery and insight, Dante is a complex character.

Roman’s relationship with Dante is pivotal to the protagonist’s characterization and the novel’s exploration of loyalty and trauma. The Carruthers brothers are already bound together by secrets and trauma before the main events of the novel because they caused the accident that killed Bonita. Cosby also demonstrates the dangers of family loyalty through Dante’s awareness that Roman’s undying loyalty to him leads to the deaths of many others: “I understand that there are sidewalks all around town stained with blood because I fucked up and you’re trying to fix it” (243). Dante’s debt with the Black Baron Boys drags Roman into a relentless cycle of retribution with Torrent and Tranquil, and the self-destructive way that Dante uses substance misuse to cope with Bonita’s death also advances the theme of guilt.

Dante’s death exemplifies the novel’s sense of tragic irony. He perishes on the same night that Roman implements his plan to keep his family safe from Torrent and Tranquil forever. His death is even more tragically ironic because he challenges the Ghost Town Crew in an attempt to avenge Cassidy, when his own brother ordered her death. Losing his little brother motivates Roman to restore his relationship with Jae, but it also contributes to his moral decay by stoking his desire for vengeance.

Neveah is Roman’s sister and the middle child in the Carruthers family. Her appearance reflects the emotional and physical strain she’s under as she tries to keep her family together and run the crematory almost single-handedly: “His sister was a beautiful woman, but Roman could see the years on her face, creeping in around the edges” (11). Although Neveah feels growing hatred for Keith because she blames him for Bonita’s disappearance, she also feels herself turning into her father because the crematory consumes her life: “I don’t know if you noticed, but the shop is my whole life! I don’t hardly have any real friends. I don’t have a real man. It’s all I’ve got. You and Daddy and Dante saw to that” (70). As this excerpt reveals, Neveah is a lonely and embittered character because she feels that her hard work and sacrifices are taken for granted. Her isolation and her belief that she cannot have anything good in her life contribute to choices that betray her conscience, such as her affair with Chauncey. Neveah’s resolve is another of her defining traits, as evidenced by her determination to solve the cold case of her mother’s disappearance. However, although Neveah possesses positive attributes like considerable willpower and a formidable work ethic, she struggles to apply these strengths in ways that serve her best interest.

Neveah is a dynamic figure whose character arc adds to the novel’s mystery and tragedy. Over the course of the story, she goes from the Carruthers family’s rock to her father’s murderer. The character’s moral deterioration underlines the noir thriller’s grim view of human nature. There is no real justice or heroes in this story, only flawed humans wreaking vengeance and harming themselves in the process. Neveah’s transformation has significant implications for the novel’s exploration of the weight of family loyalty and generational trauma. This burden falls disproportionately on her because she is the only woman left in the Carruthers family, and her brothers and father “let her try to be Mama when [she] should have just been Neveah” (119).

At the end of the novel, Neveah is Roman’s only surviving biological relative and one of the very last characters who may be able to help him hold onto his conscience and humanity. However, she ultimately rejects the weight of family loyalty because she and Roman each had a hand in their parents’ deaths. When Roman protests, “Please, we’re all we got!” Neveah responds, “Then we have nothing. I have nothing. We are nothing” (329). In the end, Neveah’s departure from Jefferson Run is not the liberating escape that she once dreamed of. Instead, she is cast adrift because the loved ones that she sacrificed for have all been killed or aren’t who she thought they were.