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Harriet is Elwood’s kind and honorable grandmother. She is dependable and conscientious but also protective and strict. She doesn’t believe that life will change much even after segregation in schools is ended by Brown v. Board of Education. In many ways, Harriet is ruled by fear. She has faced considerable adversity, and her life has been irrevocably affected by the horrors of racism. For example, her father died in jail after a white woman accused him of being in her way on a sidewalk, and her husband was killed by white men while trying to defend another man.
Because of her experiences, Harriet doesn’t have faith that she will see a just and fair society during her lifetime. She wants to protect Elwood from the suffering she has endured, and she believes that the way to do this is to teach him not to rock the boat. She knows standing up for oneself can lead to dire consequences. In some ways, Harriet regrets that Elwood listens to his record album of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches. She thinks Elwood gets foolish ideas from it. Although Harriet worries about Elwood, she feels proud of his intelligence and his prospects in life. Even though she typically believes that justice won’t prevail, she still holds on to hope and hires a lawyer to try and get Elwood’s sentence reversed.
