One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow

Nettie Mae Webber functions as both a foil and an initial antagonist to Cora Bemis, embodying a different form of female strength that has been developed and hardened by the unrelenting hardships of the prairie. When the novel begins, Nettie Mae is a figure of stoicism and bitterness, her spirit eroded by a life of profound loss, including the deaths of four children and the endurance of a physically abusive, emotionally distant husband. Substance’s death and the revelation of Cora’s betrayal do not so much create her anger as they give it a righteous and focused target. She views Cora as a “common hussy” and a usurper who has stolen the last vestiges of her family structure. Her initial response is to build her walls higher, relying on a cold and impenetrable pride as a defense against further emotional injury.

The narrative traces Nettie Mae’s gradual and difficult transformation from this state of rigid bitterness toward vulnerability and compassion. This journey of softening begins not by choice but by necessity when her son, Clyde, falls gravely ill, forcing her to seek help from the very family she despises. This act represents the first significant crack in her armor of self-reliance. Her protective instincts toward Clyde extend, unexpectedly, to Cora’s children, particularly the youngest, Miranda. Caring for Miranda during and after the flood reawakens a maternal tenderness that Nettie Mae had long suppressed as a survival mechanism against grief. This reawakening is painful and reluctant, but it is the key to her eventual reconciliation with Cora and herself.

Nettie Mae’s development culminates in her partnership with Cora during the chimney fire and their final, honest conversation on the porch of the Bemis house. Here, she is finally able to confess the depth of her past suffering, moving beyond blame to a place of shared humanity. As a round and dynamic character, Nettie Mae’s journey is not about forgetting the wrongs done to her but about choosing to move forward. Her arc demonstrates that true strength is not found in unyielding stoicism but in the courage to dismantle one’s defenses, accept interdependence, and participate in the difficult, messy work of forgiveness.

As a primary protagonist, Clyde Webber’s coming-of-age journey provides a direct exploration of the novel’s critique of traditional masculinity. Thrust into the role of head of household at 16 after his father’s violent death, Clyde is immediately defined by his quiet but firm opposition to Substance Webber’s legacy of brutality. His core internal conflict involves navigating the expectations of manhood on the harsh frontier while nurturing his own inherently gentle and empathetic nature. This struggle is central to the theme of The Redefinition of Masculinity Beyond Patriarchal Violence, as Clyde consciously crafts an identity rooted in stewardship and connection rather than domination and force.

Clyde’s character is revealed through his interactions with the natural world, particularly animals. Where his father sought to break and control the sheep, Clyde attempts to earn their trust through patience and quiet understanding. His deep bond with his horse, Joe Buck, provides him with an outlet for an emotional vulnerability that the patriarchal code of his time would condemn. His transformation is marked by a series of pivotal events that solidify his rejection of his father’s path. The trauma of burying his own father is followed by a profound horror at his own capacity for violence after he kills a coyote in a fit of rage. This act becomes a turning point, causing him to seek a different way of being, one that honors life rather than simply exerting power over it.

His relationship with Beulah Bemis is instrumental in this journey. She serves as a spiritual mentor, guiding him toward a more holistic and interconnected worldview. She does not instruct him but helps him to “see” the sacredness in all life, most notably with the two-headed lamb. Clyde’s decision to show the lamb “all of the world” before it dies represents the culmination of his development (290). In this moment, he fully embraces empathy over judgment, choosing a form of strength based on care and reverence. As a round and dynamic character, Clyde’s journey suggests that true masculinity is not about the suppression of feeling but about the courage to connect with the world in a gentle and meaningful way, offering a hopeful alternative to the destructive cycle of violence his father embodied.

Beulah Bemis is a unique protagonist who functions as the spiritual and philosophical heart of the novel. Her secure sense of self and connection to the wider world is illustrated through the metatextual decision to have her chapters narrated in the first person while the other narrators speak from a third-person perspective. The others feel separate and disconnected, uncertain of how to define themselves, while Beulah is in perfect control of her beliefs and her path in life. While she undergoes little internal change herself, making her a largely static character, her profound and complex worldview makes her exceptionally well-rounded. Beulah possesses a deep, intuitive connection to the natural world, perceiving a unified and cyclical reality where distinctions between life and death, human and animal, are fluid. From the novel’s opening, she is established as having a special “knowing that comes to me from the movement of wind or the scent of blackberries” (3). This perspective allows her to remain serene and centered amid the chaos and tragedy that engulf her family, a calmness that others often mistake for being “peculiar” or simpleminded.

Beulah is the primary voice for the theme of The Breakdown of Traditional Roles and Binaries, specifically addressing the misconception of life and death as opposing binary concepts. She sees the potential for infinite renewal within a single corn kernel, explaining that there is “a whole stalk inside every kernel” containing endless future generations (44). She understands Substance Webber’s ghost not as a terrifying specter but as a spirit stubbornly refusing to dissolve back into the great cycle, and she views the two-headed lamb not as a monstrous deformity but as a sacred “miracle.” Her worldview is one of radical acceptance, where decay and death are not endings but necessary transformations in a continuous and interconnected existence.

In her role as a mentor to Clyde, Beulah guides him away from his father’s violent, human-centric worldview and toward her own more holistic understanding. She doesn’t preach or instruct but rather creates opportunities for him to see the world as she does. By having him participate in the ritual burial of the coyote he killed, she helps him process his capacity for violence and choose a path of reverence instead. Beulah’s quiet, steady presence provides a powerful contrast to the anxieties of her mother and Nettie Mae, whose sufferings are rooted in more conventional, personal fears. Beulah’s character offers a transcendent alternative, suggesting that peace can be found not by fighting against the harsh realities of life and death, but by understanding one’s place within their unending cycle.

Substance Webber serves as the novel’s ideological antagonist, representing a destructive and toxic form of masculinity built on violence, domination, and emotional suppression. Although he is killed at the beginning of the story, his influence persists as a haunting presence, both literally and figuratively. His character is defined by his brutal handling of his livestock and his family, a stark contrast to the gentle natures of Ernest Bemis and his own son, Clyde. His lingering spirit, described by Beulah as being stuck and refusing to “be dissolved,” symbolizes the spiritually bankrupt and isolating nature of a worldview that rejects interconnectedness in favor of absolute control. 

As a flat and static character, Substance’s primary role is to provide the oppressive legacy against which Clyde must define his own, more empathetic and sustainable model of manhood. The only development in his character arises through his interactions with Beulah, as she has an ongoing dialogue with him throughout the novel. She urges his spirit to recognize that Clyde will grow into a strong, confident young man, albeit without his legacy of violence, and it’s the reassurance Substance needs to accept his place and move forward knowing that his family is safe and provided for.