Unnamed "Good Women in Jefferson"

The crusade against Willy's behavior is led by two female members of Reverend Schultz's congregation: Mrs. Merridew and Mrs. Hovis. But at the beginning of the story the narrator identifies "the good women in Jefferson" as the people who are to blame for "driving Uncle Willy out of town," and thus for the narrator's own choice to follow him (225). At times he seems to see "good women" and white women as essentially synonymous. Three women (whom the narrator calls "ladies") appear in the story, working with Merridew and Schultz to wean Willy from his vices (230); according to the narrator's description of the way these three address Willy - as "Mr. Christian [or] Uncle Willy [or] Willy"- they are of different ages and are not all originally from town (230).