Across Five Aprils

Jenny is 14 at the start of the novel and the closest to Jethro in age of all the Creighton siblings. Jenny is described as being very beautiful and strongly resembling her mother. Like Jethro, Jenny is navigating the transition between childhood and adulthood. She wants to marry Shad, but her father protests that she is too young, which frustrates her. Jenny has a strong spirit and displays the same defiant courage that Jethro shows in the face of Guy Wortman. When the Federal Registrars insist on searching the house for Eb, Jenny tells them they should go look down at Point Prospect; seeing their reluctance to go into such a dangerous area, she says sarcastically, “It is easier to come to a house and upset a sick old man and scared womenfolk […] but you sounded so brave just now—I thought you might want to do your duty down there” (131).

Jenny’s transition into adulthood receives less emphasis than Jethro’s, but her development runs parallel to his. She too must learn to cope with the tragic realities of the war. She confesses to Jethro that the idea of war was not truly real to her until the news of Tom’s death arrived. In the beginning, she harbors innocent fantasies about her future with Shad. By the end of the novel, she has become much more sober and realistic. As with Jethro, Jenny’s maturity is manifested through her appearance. After she marries Shad and lives in Washington, DC, for a while, Jethro observes that “she seemed taller in her city clothes, thinner and more delicate” (188).

Jenny represents hope and perseverance. When Jethro is forced to take over the responsibilities of the farm, Jenny quickly takes on half of the workload herself, even though plowing the fields is “man’s work” (102). She is very attentive to Jethro’s emotional state and places great value in their openness with one another. She also acts as a source of hope to Shad. When Shad is on the verge of death, Jenny’s visit helps him recover. The final image of the novel is Jethro running into Jenny’s arms, reaffirming their bond and signaling hope for the future.

Shadrach Yale is 20 at the start of the novel and one of Jethro’s most admired role models. Although Shad is not related to the Creightons, he is like an older brother to Jethro, and by the end of the novel, he officially becomes Jethro’s brother-in-law. Shad is an intelligent and ambitious young man who wished to study at university but was forced to become a schoolteacher for financial reasons. He is close to Ellen, who nursed him back to health from typhoid fever, and to Jethro, who shares his passion for learning. Shad is aware of how much Jethro looks up to him, and he takes every opportunity to teach and encourage him. He never talks down to Jethro but always respects his intelligence: “[Shad] could make a ten-year-old schoolboy feel proud as a man” (54).

Shad’s character represents reason and knowledge. In the first chapter, Jethro tells Ellen what Shad taught him about Copernicus, who disproved the traditional belief that the earth was at the center of the universe. Ellen, who is more traditional and less educated, at first feels this is borderline blasphemous. Later, when Jethro tells Shad that the nonsensical song “Seven stars are in the sky” was believed by some to be “witch-talk to the Devil” (63), Shad becomes irritated, saying, “they have a right to their belief [...] But I’m scornful of people who are so sure of something they can’t prove that they’ll torture or kill anyone who is accused” (63). Shad’s naturally skeptical mind is shown again when he is critical of the cult following that General McClellan has among his men. While others put blind faith in certain beliefs and people, Shad tries to approach each situation with reason and understanding.

Bill is one of Jethro’s adult brothers, who is 23 at the start of the novel. He is closest to the oldest brother, John, both in age and friendship though their relationship is strained and eventually broken because of their differing viewpoints on the war. Bill is Jethro’s favorite brother though others see Bill as “peculiar” because of his preference for reading over more masculine activities like hunting and wrestling. Bill’s personality is thoughtful and dreamy: “[M]en had seen him stop his team in midfield to watch the flight of a line of birds, and a story went the rounds of Bill talking to his horse as if it were a person” (22).

The first sign of Bill’s sympathies for the South emerges during the family meal with Wilse Graham in Chapter 2 when they argue about where their family’s allegiance should lie. This moment is the first crack in the brothers’ relationship, which will eventually break apart completely. John feels that the North is unambiguously on the right side of the war, but Bill is not so sure. Bill is similar to Shad in that they are both intellectual people with little patience for those who put unquestioning faith in a person or cause. Bill’s tendency to question leads him to the conclusion that he cannot fight for the North.

Although Bill chooses to leave his family and fight for the Confederacy, he does not entirely support the South. He “hate[s] slavery” (41) though his dislike of slavery is not enough to convince him that the South is on the wrong side of the war. Bill’s departure is the first real loss that the war brings to the Creighton family. Although Bill doesn’t die, his choice severs him from his family forever. He departs from the narrative early but his absence hangs over the entire story, causing tension between the Creightons and their community. Moral ambiguity is a strong theme throughout Across Five Aprils, as is the theme of divided loyalties, and Bill’s character is a significant example of both themes.

Ebenezer “Eb” Carron is Jethro’s cousin; he is 18 at the beginning of the novel, the same age as Jethro’s brother Tom. Eb was orphaned at a young age and adopted by the Creightons, so like Shad, he is essentially an older brother to Jethro. Tom and Eb share the same excitement about the war in the beginning. When the Civil War does officially begin, Eb and Tom are the first of the Creighton brothers to enlist.

After joining the army, Tom quickly becomes disillusioned from his fantasies about the glory of war and wants to make sure that Jethro knows “bein a soljer aint so much” (50). The news of his death brings the realities of the war home to the Creighton family, especially Jethro. Eb does not write any letters for most of the war, so his feelings about it remain unknown until the day he shows up as a deserter near the Creightons’ farm. After Lincoln’s offer of amnesty to deserters, Eb eagerly reenlists. This time, his choice is not made out of an ignorant excitement for war but out of a desire to redeem himself and regain hope for a future. For that, he is willing to accept blame and abuse from his fellow soldiers. He writes to Jethro that he’ll “take what they say to me and do my job till I fall over” (150). In the end, Eb manages to survive the war; because of Jethro’s courage and Lincoln’s mercy, he is able to have a second chance at life.

Dave Burdow is the patriarch of the Burdow family, who are positioned in the beginning as antagonists to the Creightons. While the Creightons are generally respected by others, the Burdows are “commonly despised throughout the countryside as a shiftless lot with a bad background” (16-17). Dave Burdow’s father was an outsider who gained a reputation of being a thief, which may or may not have been true. Because of this, the entire family was treated as pariahs. While Dave’s sons grow up to be heavy drinkers with a belligerent streak, Dave is described as a “sullen, silent man who shunned people in general and accepted their insults as a matter of course” (17).

Dave respects Matthew because he stopped an angry mob from attacking his son Travis after Travis caused the wagon accident that killed Mary Creighton. Perhaps as a way of repaying the mercy Matt showed to Travis, Dave makes sure Jethro gets home safely when Wortman lays a trap for him. This transforms the Burdows’ reputation in town though Dave maintains his distance from society.

Dave Burdow represents the rift that can develop between people because of past harms. Just as the past sins of slavery reached into the present to divide the Union, the past sins of Dave Burdow’s father led to his family being outcasts in their community, which then led to further harms through Travis Burdow’s alcoholism, a response to the bullying he received as a child. However, Dave Burdow’s rescue of Jethro and tentative reconciliation with his neighbors represents the possibility of redemption and peace.