Hattie Big Sky

Perilee Mueller is Hattie’s best friend and mentor. Perilee is married to Karl Mueller. Perilee was married before Karl, so her children Chase, Mattie, and Fern are from her previous marriage. Perilee is a warm and loving person who immediately accepts Hattie into her life. Perilee is protective of the people that she loves, and she stands up for Karl whenever she can because of the way that the people of Vida treat him. Perilee’s previous husband was abusive and caused her to have a limp. She tells Hattie that she fell in love with Karl because of the way that he stepped in to help her after her husband left her. Perilee knows that Karl is a kind man, and she resents the fact that anyone would treat him differently because he is German.

Perilee acts as a mentor to Hattie. Since Hattie has never had a strong female role model, she looks to Perilee to guide her. Perilee never overtly tells Hattie what to do, but she encourages her toward decisions founded on love and acceptance. Hattie thrives in her relationship with Perilee because she finally finds someone who accepts her rather than criticizes her. However, Perilee’s internal conflict arises from her grief over losing Mattie. Although she could not do anything to prevent Mattie’s death, Perilee blames herself. She cannot move on from her grief because every aspect of their home in Vida reminds her of Mattie. Although it is painful for her to leave Hattie, she knows that she will never heal from her grief of losing a child unless she finds a new home. As they say goodbye, Perilee reminds Hattie that she is her “sister of the heart [...] Geography can’t change that” (389). This reminder helps Hattie gather her courage to leave Montana as well because she realizes that the community she has built will follow her throughout her life. Hattie gives Perilee a quilt that honors Mattie and their time together, which signifies the depth of Perilee and Hattie’s connection. Perilee understands the significance of this gift because of the hours that she and Hattie have spent together quilting. Perilee accepts this gift with the hope that she and Hattie will be reunited someday.

Traft Martin is the novel’s antagonist. He is the leader of the Dawson County Council of Defense. Traft is a rancher, and he wants to buy Hattie’s land so that he can run horses on them. Traft is used to getting his way, and he gets angry at Hattie for refusing his proposal to buy her land. Although he is a handsome man and Hattie finds herself falling for him at first, she realizes that his attractiveness does not reflect his values as a person. Traft has extreme views about American nationalism, and he believes that his job is to target people in the community who do not adhere to these standards of patriotism.

Despite Traft’s extreme views, Hattie finds herself empathizing with him by the novel’s end. Although Hattie believes that Traft set the Mueller’s barn on fire, she is surprised when she discovers that Traft tried to put out their fire and that he prevented her barn from burning as well. Hattie learns from this experience that she should not assume things about people just because she believes that she is right. Once Hattie learns about Mrs. Martin manipulating the governor to prevent Traft from fighting in the war, Hattie realizes that Traft is more nuanced than she thought he was. She relates his experience to her own life as she understands how constrained she felt when she lived with Aunt Ivy, especially because she controlled every aspect of Hattie’s life. Hattie knows that she would not wish that type of relationship on anyone. Traft’s humiliation over his mother using her power to protect him causes Traft to experience self-loathing. Hattie realizes that he takes his role on the Council of Defense so seriously because it helps him justify the fact that other people are dying in the war while he is safe at home. While Hattie knows that this reality does not justify Traft’s actions, especially against Karl and Mr. Ebgard, her new perspective on Traft’s inner struggles causes her to allow him grace and empathize with him, even though she does not hold his extreme views.