Mississippi+Trial+Characters

-As a child, Hiram loves it in Greenwood, Mississippi with his grandparents. However, when he comes back to visit several years later he sees the area in a whole new light. When no one cares about the death of Emmett Till only because his skin is colored, it shows Hiram that people will always be racist and unable to overlook the color of people's skin. Hiram understands his father's resentment for the South so much more.
 * Main Characters, Setting and Symbols**
 * Hiram Hillburn**

-Hiram's grandfather is a role model for him for a lot of Hiram's life. He loves Hiram very much and looks at him like it's his own son. However, he's much like the typical southerner in 1955, when the color of someone's skin matters. He wants nothing to do with Emmett Till's murder trial and insists to Hiram that there's nothing he can do to change what happened. However, it's concluded that the grandpa wanted nothing to do with the murder trial because he contributed to the murder.
 * Grandpa Hillburn**

-R.C. is a rowdy, unforgiving boy with no limits to what he does or says. He's symbolic of all the people in Greenwood who are racist and think blacks are inferior to whites. He plans to murder Emmett Till, but doesn't follow through with it.
 * R.C. Rydell**

-Emmett is an African American, originally from Chicago. He doesn't understand the inferiority society puts on him especially in the South. When he crosses the line with a white woman in a store, he is kidnapped and murdered. The two men who killed him are innocent because no one cares about Emmett because of his skin color. Emmett is symbolic of all the blacks unreasonably discriminated against during that time period.
 * Emmett Till**

**Setting**
The setting takes place in Greenwood, Mississippi in 1955. Greenwood is a small town and many of the people living there feel superior to African Americans. Some even own slaves to work in the house or in the fields. The air is always hot and humid and the small town consists of a river, a lake, and several small stores.
 * Symbols**

-Hiram often goes to a bridge overlooking a river. The river shows colors by day, but none by night. This is symbolic of the people who only see others in the day when their skin colors are most distinct, but they never take the time to look into the dark when color doesn't matter.
 * //The River//**

-The trial for Emmett Till's murder is symbolic of many people's views on blacks and how they're inferior to whites. The whites side with the murderers only because they would side with an African American if they didn't. The death of an innocent boy was overlooked because of his skin color.
 * //The Murder Trial//**