Characters
Kelton doesn't develop characters according to a formula. He writes about real people and emphasizes character rather than action. Kelton's characters seem to walk out of the pages of his novels as individuals (Alter, p. 103). "I can't write about heroes seven feet tall and invincible," he once said. "I write about people five foot eight and nervous...The little people down at ground level have always interested me most."
Kelton says he tries first in his novels to develop interesting characters "who stand out as individuals and more or less strike sparks from each other so that the story can grow out of the conflict within and between the characters. I try most of the time not to have either real black-hatted villains or true-blue, white-hatted types of heroes. I like my people to be a little more complex than that."
Kelton's characters become real people to him. "Most people who have never tried to write fiction don't understand that," he says. "You begin to write about characters, and they grow on you. I always start with a preconceived idea of what the book is going to be. I know more or less where I want it to go and how I want it to end. It rarely ever proceeds exactly the way I planned it or ends as I planned it.... "I guess I am like the ventriloquist whose dummy begins to give him orders. My characters begin to give me orders after a while, and very often they will take off on a track of their own. All I can do is follow along and try to hang on for the ride."
Charlie Flagg -- Proud, determined, independent cattleman who is "one of the most memorable, remarkable people you'll meet in American fiction." Described as a "broad-shouldered man who still toted his own feed sacks, dug his own post holes, flanked his own calves." As honest and decent as he is cantankerous, Charlie is an atypical modern Western hero with strong ties to the past.
Mary Flagg -- Charlie's wife, a good frontier woman. She often has to sacrifice some new household item or piece of furniture so Charlie can buy more livestock. Charlie and Mary slept in separate bedrooms, but they do have an emotional reunion before the book's end.
Tom Flagg -- The grown son of Charlie and Mary. Complex but generous with a degree of loyalty. The allure of riding the rodeo circuit entices him to leave Brush Top Ranch, and he meets and marries Dolly. ("There was always a lot less to her than showed on the surface," Charlie says of his daughter-in-law.) Tom returns once with his rodeo-groupie wife, but he's still unable to feel his father's dedication to the land so he leaves again. Charlie and Mary feel an unbridgeable gap.
Lupe Flores -- Father of the family that has lived and worked for 17 years on Charlie's ranch, and Charlie takes care of them. They live in a small house near the big ranch-house, but they eventually must move to town when Charlie is unable to continue his support because of the drouth.
Manuel Flores -- Lupe's son who becomes Charlie's "spiritual son." He helps Charlie when Tom leaves and is there in the final scene helping Charlie try to save his shivering goats. Manuel has all the qualities Charlie wants in Tom -- a feel for the land and his family. But he does develop a resentment of Charlie's sometimes overbearing help. "Don't you think we're men enough to take care of ourselves?" he asks.
Page Mauldin -- Driven by ambition to own the biggest ranch in West Texas. Wealthy, modern rancher who runs his enormous ranching operation from the driver's seat of his big, battle-scarred Cadillac car. Long-time friend of Charlie's, but he is declared ineligible for the government aid he's been taking.
Kathy Mauldin -- Page Mauldin's daughter who takes over her father's ranch after his death. She shares Charlie's determination to keep the ranch in operation, and she's also there in the final scene with Manuel representing a change to the next generation to carry on the ranching tradition.
Emmett Rodale -- Most bankers in Kelton's novels are representatives of the financial establishment that threatens the small cowmen, but Emmett Rodale is an exception. Charlie's friend at Farmers and Ranchers Bank who provides financing for Brush Top Ranch during the drouth.
