The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

A static character, the millionaire is an extremely wealthy white man who sponsors the narrator. Because the narrator is the point-of-view character, readers only have direct access to the millionaire through his actions and a long exposition in Chapter 8, where the millionaire explains why the narrator’s choice to return to the United States is a mistake.

The millionaire is an enigmatic man who changes the course of the narrator’s life by paying him substantial sums to play at the millionaire’s parties and providing the narrator an out when Harlem becomes too dangerous for the narrator. The millionaire effectively becomes the narrator’s patron, mostly because the millionaire experiences such ennui (existential boredom) in his life that having novel music like ragtime around is enough to spark his attraction to the narrator. The music brings him pleasure, an important thing for a man whose life is governed by the principle that making oneself happy is the only goal. This philosophy makes him a foil to the Ex-Colored Man during the period in his life when he idealistically decides that service to his racial community should govern his life.

Like some white patrons of Black artists during the early-20th century, the millionaire focuses on satisfying his own desires when it comes to the art that the narrator produces. Although he gives the narrator a generous gift of money before the narrator departs for the United States, he does so coldly, signaling the end to the relationship now that the narrator has decided to go his own way.

The narrator describes his mother as a beautiful, very light-skinned woman who maintains her loyalty to her white lover despite his insistence that she move away; their separation is sealed when the narrator’s father marries a woman of his own class and race. The narrator’s mother fits an archetype in the passing narrative, that of the tragic woman of color who sacrifices all to the whims of her white lover and dies in the end.

However, the narrator’s mother is more than just the lover of the narrator’s father. She is an industrious woman who supports the family by running a thriving sewing business. In addition, she nurtures the narrator by securing a piano once his musical talent becomes apparent, insisting that he have lofty goals that include bringing glory to his racial community, and pushing him to attend college after he finishes his early education. Her singing of hymns and Southern folk songs is a key musical influence on the narrator as well. Her tragic death shifts the narrator’s character arc as he struggles to find his financial footing as a result of the expensive medical bills during her last days.

The mother is a static character who changes little over the course of the narrative; despite the lack of change in the character, she serves as the narrator’s only direct connection to Black identity in his early life. However, her decision not to talk more explicitly about the narrator’s racial identity proves pivotal in his struggles to define his own identity.

Shiny appears twice in the narrative, first as one of the few Black classmates the narrator admires and then as the discreet professor who avoids exposing the narrator’s racial identity to the narrator’s white girlfriend. The name “Shiny” has hints of racial stereotypes because the narrator and his peers are referencing the contrast between the character’s dark skin and bright eyes, teeth, and face—a racist trope that appears in the verse immediately after the discussion of Shiny’s name.

However, Shiny is “shiny” in another sense: He stands out. Despite the racism he is forced to confront, Shiny is an example of Black excellence because he is one of the best and most eloquent scholars at the narrator’s schools. His example inspires the narrator’s ambitions to bring honor to Black Americans through his music. Unlike the narrator, however, Shiny makes good on his ambition to be a credit to his racial community by becoming a professor. He is thus a foil to the narrator, one who shows that there were other possible outcomes for the narrator besides passing.