White Butterfly: Analysis of Major Characters
"White Butterfly: Analysis of Major Characters" explores the complex dynamics and relationships among key figures in a narrative centered around crime and morality. The protagonist, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, is an African American detective navigating the challenges of investigating brutal murders of Black women in Los Angeles while grappling with his personal struggles and ethical boundaries. His friend, Raymond "Mouse" Alexander, serves as both a dark reflection of Easy's hidden aggression and a source of humor, complicating Easy's moral landscape. Easy's wife, Regina, embodies resilience but faces her own turmoil, ultimately leaving Easy, which thrusts him into a deeper emotional crisis.
Other notable characters include Quinton Naylor, an African American police sergeant whose complicated relationship with Easy reveals tensions between law enforcement and the Black community. The narrative also features Robin Garnett, known as the White Butterfly, whose murder intertwines with racial themes and societal dislocation. The wealthy Vernon Garnett, Robin's father, manipulates his power to hide his own crimes, adding layers of corruption to the story. Each character contributes to an intricate web of relationships, illuminating themes of race, identity, and moral ambiguity within a mid-20th century American setting.
White Butterfly: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Walter Mosley
First published: 1992
Genre: Novel
Locale: Los Angeles, California
Plot: Detective and mystery
Time: 1956
Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, (ee-ZEE-kee-ehl), an African American detective. He finds himself drawn into the investigation of a number of brutal murders of black women at the request of the Los Angeles police department, because he can go places and do things that the police officially cannot. Easy is from Louisiana via Texas and went to Los Angeles during World War II to work in the aircraft plants; he remained there after the war. Easy no longer has his job at the plant but is settled in California. He owns a house and lives off the proceeds of several rental properties he bought with money he obtained illegally and which he keeps secret. Easy is fairly flexible as a detective, but he has one motto that he lives by: As a rule, he will not run down a black man for the law.
Raymond “Mouse” Alexander, Easy's best friend from Texas. Mouse, a psychotic killer, reflects Easy's dark and brutal side and often rescues him from tough situations when quick, violent action is needed. Mouse also expresses the suspicion of some African Americans toward whites. His casual attitude toward killing people provides much of the mordant humor in the novel.
Regina (Gina) Rawlins, Easy's wife of two years and the mother of their baby girl, Edna. She works as a nurse at Temple Hospital. She is a gentle, warm woman who grew up in a desperately poor Southern black family. As well as taking care of her alcoholic father, she reared most of her thirteen younger brothers and sisters after the death of her mother. Her marriage to Easy is in trouble. Midway through the novel, she takes Edna and runs away with Dupree Bouchard, a friend of Easy from his aircraft-working days. Her departure plunges Easy into depression and a fit of self-pity.
Quinton Naylor, an African American police sergeant who approaches Easy to help the department with an investigation. Easy is uncomfortable with him because of Quinton's official position in law enforcement and acquiescence to his white superiors. Easy describes him as having “rage-colored” skin, but he still talks like a white man.
Robin Garnett, also known as Cyndi Starr and as the White Butterfly. A twenty-one-year-old white woman from a wealthy Los Angeles family who has dropped out of college to work in the black section of town as a stripper, using the stage name of the White Butterfly. She is found murdered. Although she is white and was killed in a different manner, at first she is suspected to have been killed by the same person who killed several black women.
William Wharton, also known as Mofass, Easy's business partner in his scam with the apartments he owns. Officially, Easy works as a janitor in his own buildings, and Mofass acts as the owner/manager. A chain smoker of cheap cigars, his most notable characteristics are his wracking cough and his conservative business sense.
Vernon Garnett, Robin's father, a prominent and wealthy man. He kills his daughter when he finds out about her low life. Using his political and economic position, he is able to manipulate the cooperation of the police department to hide his crimes. He also commits additional murders, including that of Phyllis Weinstein (Sylvia Bride), a stripper friend of Robin who is hiding Robin's illegitimate baby, Feather Starr. As he searches for his granddaughter, he finally exposes his culpability. At the novel's end, Easy takes the homeless orphan home to live with him and his adopted son, Little Jesus, a Hispanic mute.
James “J. T.” Saunders, a psychopath who preys on young women and is charged with the Los Angeles murders, but not before he is killed in a bar fight in Oakland by a local policeman. The “assassination,” as Easy calls it, is part of the broad cover-up Vernon Garnett orchestrates with a corrupt policeman, Captain Violette, to conceal his murder of his daughter.