Martha Loomis (Martha Pentecost) Character Analysis in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Herald Loomis’s wife, and Zonia’s mother. After Herald was captured by Joe Turner, Martha had trouble sustaining Zonia and herself financially, so she left Zonia with her own mother and traveled north, following the family’s church. After establishing herself in the north, she returned to fetch Zonia, but Herald had already come and taken the young girl. Martha then lived for a brief period in Seth and Bertha’s boarding house before moving just outside town to be near the church. When she finally sees Herald, she tries to convince him to return to Christianity, telling him that Jesus bled for him and that he can’t “just be alive”; “Life don’t mean nothing unless it got a meaning,” she says, but she’s unable to convince her husband.

Martha Loomis (Martha Pentecost) Quotes in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

The Joe Turner’s Come and Gone quotes below are all either spoken by Martha Loomis (Martha Pentecost) or refer to Martha Loomis (Martha Pentecost). 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:

(LOOMIS slashes himself across the chest. He rubs the blood over his face and comes to a realization.)
I’m standing! I’m standing. My legs stood up! I’m standing now!
(Having found his song, the song of self-sufficiency, fully resurrected, cleansed and given breath, free from any encumbrance other than the workings of his own heart and the bonds of the flesh, having accepted the responsibility for his own presence in the world, he is free to soar above the environs that weighed and pushed his spirit into terrifying contractions.)

Related Characters: Herald Loomis (speaker), Martha Loomis (Martha Pentecost)

Page Number and Citation: 93

Explanation and Analysis:

Martha Loomis (Martha Pentecost) Character Timeline in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

The timeline below shows where the character Martha Loomis (Martha Pentecost) appears in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Racism in Post-Slavery America Theme Icon

...way we go.” He goes on to reveal that he’s looking for a woman named Martha Loomis—his wife. Seth says he knows several Marthas, but nobody with the last name Loomis,... (full context)

...traveling…coming over from Ohio. Say he a deacon in the church. Say he looking for Martha Pentecost. Talking about that’s his wife.” Although Herald claims to be looking for a Martha... (full context)

...outside town, a fact that only contributes to his mysterious aspect. Seth reminds Bertha that Martha—whom he’s now sure is Loomis’s wife—stayed in the boarding house for a little while before... (full context)

...tells him Herald’s upstairs, and Bynum remarks that Herald’s going to hire Selig to find Martha. “Selig can’t find her,” Seth says. “He talk all that…but unless he get lucky and... (full context)

...While Selig pays Seth for the dustpans, Herald comes downstairs and asks him to find Martha. Paying him a dollar, he describes his wife, explaining that the last time he saw... (full context)

Selig tells Herald there’s no guarantee he’ll find be able to find Martha. Nonetheless, he assures his client of his expertise, saying, “My great-granddaddy used to bring Nigras... (full context)

...point he went back to the place he and his family had been sharecropping, but Martha and Zonia were gone. When he went to Martha’s mother’s house, he discovered that Martha... (full context)

...is standing on the corner, just watching the house. At that moment, Selig appears with Martha Loomis (also known as Martha Pentecost), who’s dressed “as befitting a member of an Evangelist... (full context)

Herald accuses Martha of leaving his daughter “motherless in the world,” but Martha insists she never intended to... (full context)

Herald’s disappearance was so painful, Martha explains, that she had to tell herself he’d died. “Even if you weren’t,” she says,... (full context)

Herald listens to Martha’s explanation and says he’s been waiting years to see her face to say his goodbye.... (full context)

Martha comforts Zonia and turns to Bynum, thanking him. Seeing this, Herald erupts. “It was you!”... (full context)

...he can “stand up and sing” his song, he’ll finally be free. At this point, Martha implores Herald to get ahold of himself, pointing out his apparent savagery. “You gone over... (full context)

...need anybody to bleed for him, since he can do so for himself. In response, Martha says, “You got to be something, Herald! You just can’t be alive. Life don’t mean... (full context)

...own struggles, Loomis says the fateful words he’s been waiting to utter for years: “Goodbye, Martha.” Having said this, he turns and makes his exit, and as Mattie runs to join... (full context)