relationship with her aunt. Beatrice, George, and Dan - Marie's three younger siblings. Beatrice, George, and Dan, are sent to work for families following their mother's death. Ill-treated, they turn to their sister for help. While Marie supports Beatrice, she lacks the resources to also provide for her brothers. George eventually dies in a ditch cave-in, and Dan serves in the military before going to live with his father and Sam. Annie Rogers - Marie's older sister. As a working woman, she holds her own in confrontations with her father. She marries Sam and makes a good wife. She dies in child birth shortly after marriage. Sam Walker - Helen's beau when she was a young girl, he marries Marie's sister Annie. Later John Rogers and Dan also live with him in Oklahoma. Big Buck - A large, quiet, and proud man, this one-time cowboy exudes the spirit of the West. Originally introduced as one of John Rogers's employees, he and Marie reunite when she moves to Arizona. He supports Marie for six months while she is in school. He proposes to Marie, but she turns him down. Robert Hampton - A pen pal of Marie who sends his old books by mail. Marie idealizes him. His image is shattered when she finally meets him and discovers their ideas on religion, politics, and gender differ greatly. Knut Larsen - Marie's first husband and the brother of Karin Larson is a highly educated socialist. Their marriage, based on equality, is strained and fails when Knut tells Marie to take his first husbandly command to sit upright in a bus and she refuses. Karin Larsen - A statuesque Scandinavian woman from the East, Karin is the sister of Knut Larson. Karin is skeptical of academic conventions. Through Karin, Marie first learns about socialism. Anand Manvekar - Marie's second husband, an Indian whose revolutionary ideas extend to women also. He thinks that without the freedom of women, the world will not advance; however, he cannot handle Marie's sex/rape incident with Juan Diaz. The marriage falls apart. Juan Diaz - A Eurasian, Juan is half Indian and half Portuguese. A Christian by religion, he is a cynical man who openly claims that his revolutionary ideas do not extend to women. He rapes Marie, then blackmails her and her husband which, eventually, becomes the source of Marie and Anand's breakup. Sardarji Ranjit Singh - An