It's Not All Downhill From Here

Jalecia Curry is Loretha’s estranged daughter, with whom Loretha frequently tries and fails to reconnect. Jalecia’s character arc portrays the challenges associated with overcoming addictions and managing mental health. She receives an in-text diagnosis of catatonic depression.

Loretha’s first interaction with Jalecia establishes the low point from which her character arc starts: “Her mildew-scented dreadlocks scratched my right cheek […] Her breath smelled like mint, but it didn’t cover the stink of what I knew to be eighty proof” (34). Jalecia becomes a unique take on the rebel character archetype because she embodies many of the negative aspects of the rebel without portraying their positive sides. She often lands in jail, chases dreams, and wants to live outside her mother’s control. She cannot accept that she needs help and that resistance is crucial to her dynamic character. Though she is a static character for most of the novel, she becomes dynamic through self-reflection:

Something’s wrong with me, Ma. With the way I think. The way I feel. I often feel like I’m drowning. And I’ve been feeling this way for a long time but too ashamed to tell you or anybody, which is why I think I drink too much even though I don’t always like feeling drunk (264).

After seeking mental health treatment, she grows as a character, abstaining from alcohol and apologizing to those she’s hurt.

Jalecia’s physical appearance mirrors her internal conflicts and changes. When she returns from the treatment facility, Loretha is “shocked when [she] saw a short Afro through the clear part of the stained glass. When [she] open[s] the door, there [is her] daughter, smiling, looking strong and beautiful” (311). When Jalecia finally accepts the help she needs, her physical appearance shifts from negative connotations to positive ones, and McMillan uses traditionally positive adjectives to describe Jalecia reuniting with her mother and family friends.

Korynthia is one of Loretha’s long-time friends and one of the novel’s main characters. Loretha describes Korynthia as “a beautiful, slender giant. She’s six-one and the only one out of all of us who still has her college weight, not that she went to college” (12). She also comments that Korynthia “can and will talk you to death if you don’t cut her off” (12). Korynthia is a physically active character who encourages Loretha to exercise more by going with her on walks around the Rose Bowl.

Korynthia looks for love despite her age and proudly celebrates finding it. “I have a date. Or, should I say, another date. With the same man. And this will make our fifth date and this is my good frigging news. I think I might be falling in love, Lo” (227). Loretha, a skeptical character, questions the wisdom of this new relationship. Korynthia’s response solidifies her characterization as an optimistic, loving individual: “Please don’t ask me again about what if it doesn’t work out. It will. If it doesn’t [...] I tried something new” (293). Her passion can come across as naiveté, but she has the heart of a true lover.

Korynthia’s character changes little throughout the narrative. She adjusts her activities and behaviors for her health, but none of these changes affect who Korynthia inherently is. In most respects, she is a flat and static character—or a character who changes little throughout a book and has little depth. Korynthia loves and wants to be loved. Though she experiences little change or growth through the novel’s plot, she is pivotal in Loretha’s arc. Without Korynthia’s guiding presence and encouragement, Loretha would not become the dynamic, round character she is.

Known to all as Lucky, her given name is Elizabeth Taylor. Loretha, however, sees her as a “confused elitist. She thinks the kind of car you drive defines you, along with your zip code. She used to be a costumer for game shows and some TV commercials but now spends her time shopping and cooking—and eating” (12). Despite this perception, Lucky's character is more nuanced. She may come across as mean-spirited, but she harbors a deep love for her friends and a genuine desire to see them succeed, even as she grapples with her private struggles.

Lucky knows she is unhappy in her life, reflecting, “I’m also ashamed and bored with my life, and I feel old and I don’t know what to do with so much free time on my hands. I even stopped shopping because I have too much of everything but not enough of something” (143-44). What Lucky misses is her husband’s love. She experiences internal and external conflict surrounding her relationship with him and must find balance to find fulfillment. To gain control of herself, Lucky opts to have gastric bypass surgery, which will help her lose weight. Lucky experiences a scare when Joe wants to leave her. She tells her friends, “My weight and losing a man I’ve loved for more than forty-five years has scared [...] me” (233). Joe threatening Lucky with divorce makes her pause and re-evaluate her life, though the couple ultimately gets back together.

While Lucky’s friends critique her meanness and negativity, she expresses a desire to improve, wanting to be better for herself, her husband, and her friends. Lucky’s desire to improve and her complexity makes her a dynamic and round character. Lucky’s struggles underscore that having money does not make a person happy and can hide the same problems everyone else has—romantic, emotional, and physical.