Previous Next

The youngest Tillerman child at six years old, Sammy is the most passionate and rash. He believes perhaps even more strongly and stubbornly than Dicey in Momma, but lacks the drive that forces Dicey to accept painful truths and move on. Early in the novel, Dicey finds herself reminiscing about a younger Sammy, who was wildly joyful and uninhibited. In Provincetown, however, Sammy learned, like Dicey, to fight in response to the taunts of his peers. Sammy is a fierce fighter and as quick and vehement as Dicey about defending his family members. The six-year-old Sammy is angrier, more stubborn, and more belligerent than the younger child she remembers. Sammy poses a number of problems for Dicey throughout the novel, as he repeatedly refuses to go on walking, he steals food and a wallet, and in Bridgeport, he engages in fights with the other schoolchildren, greatly upsetting Eunice. In Crisfield, Sammy forces the crisis between Dicey and Gram when he disappears all afternoon without permission. At the same time, Sammy's fierce idealism, hope, and his intense moments of joy lift the spirits of the suspicious Tillermans.

Previous section Maybeth Next section Gram

Popular pages: Homecoming

Take a Study Break