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Parnell James
Juanita Harmon is a pretty Black college student and civil-rights protestor living in an unnamed town in the U.S. South. At one point, she planned to go North to study law and come back to the South to practice, but the violence she faces as a protestor makes her consider leaving the South altogether. Many men—including minister Meridian Henry, white newspaperman Parnell James, and college student/protestor Pete Spivey—develop romantic feelings for Juanita, but she only truly falls in love when her childhood friend Richard Henry returns to town after eight years in New York and tells her about his disillusionment with the North and his former heroin addiction. Juanita and Richard discuss leaving town together, but before they can, racist white store owner Lyle Britten murders Richard. After Richard’s death, Juanita hopes desperately that she is pregnant with his child. At Lyle’s trial for Richard’s murder, the racist defense attorney (The State) tries to cast doubt on Juanita’s reliability by implying that she is sexually promiscuous. As the play ends, Juanita is planning to march in protest of Lyle’s acquittal.
Juanita Harmon Quotes in Blues for Mister Charlie
The Blues for Mister Charlie quotes below are all either spoken by Juanita Harmon or refer to Juanita Harmon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1
Quotes
Juanita: And then you wouldn’t be any better than they are.
Lorenzo: I don’t want to be better than they are, why should I be better than they are? And better at what? Better at being a doormat, better at being a corpse?
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Richard: Every one of them’s got some piss-assed, faggoty white boy on a string somewhere. They go home and marry him, dig, when they can’t make it with me no more—but when they want some loving, funky, down-home, bring-it-on-here-and-put-it-on-the-table style—
Juanita: They sound very sad. It must be very sad for you, too.
Act 2
Quotes
Richard: Maybe your wife could run home and get some change. You got some change at home, I know. Don’t you?
Lyle: I don’t stand for nobody to talk about my wife.
Juanita: I used to watch you roaring through this town like a St. George thirsty for dragons. And I wanted to let you know you haven’t got to do all that; dragons aren’t hard to find, they’re everywhere. And nobody wants you to be St. George. We just want you to be Parnell.
Act 3
Quotes
Juanita: I am not responsible for your imagination.
Lyle: You ain’t no better than me!
Parnell: I am aware of that. God knows I have been made aware of that—for the first time in my life.
Get the entire Blues for Mister Charlie LitChart as a printable PDF.
Juanita Harmon Quotes in Blues for Mister Charlie
The Blues for Mister Charlie quotes below are all either spoken by Juanita Harmon or refer to Juanita Harmon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1
Quotes
Juanita: And then you wouldn’t be any better than they are.
Lorenzo: I don’t want to be better than they are, why should I be better than they are? And better at what? Better at being a doormat, better at being a corpse?
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Richard: Every one of them’s got some piss-assed, faggoty white boy on a string somewhere. They go home and marry him, dig, when they can’t make it with me no more—but when they want some loving, funky, down-home, bring-it-on-here-and-put-it-on-the-table style—
Juanita: They sound very sad. It must be very sad for you, too.
Act 2
Quotes
Richard: Maybe your wife could run home and get some change. You got some change at home, I know. Don’t you?
Lyle: I don’t stand for nobody to talk about my wife.
Juanita: I used to watch you roaring through this town like a St. George thirsty for dragons. And I wanted to let you know you haven’t got to do all that; dragons aren’t hard to find, they’re everywhere. And nobody wants you to be St. George. We just want you to be Parnell.
Act 3
Quotes
Juanita: I am not responsible for your imagination.
Lyle: You ain’t no better than me!
Parnell: I am aware of that. God knows I have been made aware of that—for the first time in my life.
