Unnamed Jefferson Townspeople

The narrative briefly describes the townspeople whom Cotton sees while being driven to jail as "children" who are wearing "small bright garments" and playing, and "men and women" heading home at suppertime, "to plates of food and cups of coffee" (163). The detail that the yards in this neighborhood are "big [and] shady" implies that these people are white and at least fairly well-to-do. As townspeople they are implicitly contrasted with two other groups referred to in the last section of the story: the country people whom Cotton sees outside town and the black men he sees inside the jail.