Character Relationship Map: Tol'able David

Characters

• David Kinemon (played by Richard Barthelmess) — protagonist

  David Kinemon is the youngest son of West Virginia tenant farmers, eager to be recognized as a man by his family, neighbors, and Esther Hatburn. After Luke Hatburn and Saul Hatburn kill his dog and cr...

• Esther Hatburn (played by Gladys Hulette) — supporting

  Esther Hatburn is a young woman living with her grandfather on a nearby farm and is the person whose respect David Kinemon most wants to earn. She initially warns David not to challenge her cousins, l...

• Luke Hatburn (played by Ernest Torrence) — supporting

  Luke Hatburn is one of Iscah Hatburn's sons and a hostile cousin of the Kinemon family. He helps occupy the Hatburn farm against Esther and her grandfather's wishes, is involved in the violence agains...

• Grandpa Hatburn (played by Forrest Robinson) — supporting

  Grandpa Hatburn is Esther Hatburn's grandfather and lives with her on the nearby Hatburn farm. He is opposed to Iscah Hatburn and his sons moving into the property, placing him and Esther in conflict...

• Sen. John Gault (played by Laurence Eddinger) — supporting
• Mother Kinemon (played by Marion Abbott) — supporting

  Mother Kinemon is David's mother and a member of the tenant-farming family whose household is devastated by the Hatburns' violence. After David's father dies and David's older brother is crippled, she...

• Allen Kinemon (played by Warner Richmond) — supporting

  Allen Kinemon is David Kinemon's older brother, whose work involves delivering mail and carrying passengers to town in a Hackney carriage. While performing that duty, he is attacked by the Hatburn cou...

• Saul 'Little Buzzard' Hatburn (played by Ralph Yearsley) — supporting

  Saul 'Little Buzzard' Hatburn is the younger son of Iscah Hatburn and one of the hostile cousins occupying the Hatburn farm. He participates in the conflict surrounding David Kinemon's family and the...

• Rose Kinemon (played by Patterson Dial) — supporting

  Rose Kinemon is connected to the Kinemon household as the wife of David Kinemon's crippled older brother. After the family loses its father and home, David's mother emphasizes that the household, incl...

• Iscah Hatburn (played by Walter P. Lewis) — supporting

  Iscah Hatburn is an outlaw and a distant cousin of the Kinemon family's Hatburn neighbors. He moves into the Hatburn farm with his sons Luke Hatburn and Saul Hatburn against Esther and her grandfather...

• Hunter Kinemon (played by Edmund Gurney) — supporting

  Hunter Kinemon is David Kinemon's father and a tenant farmer whose sense of honor shapes the family's response to the Hatburn cousins' violence. He intends to pursue vigilante justice after David's do...

• The Doctor (played by Henry Hallam) — minor
• Lassie - a dog (played by Lassie) — minor

  Lassie is David Kinemon's pet dog and a cherished part of his life before the central confrontation. The Hatburn cousins kill Lassie, an act that deepens the injury done to David's family and contribu...

Story Analysis

A young man's violent journey from boyhood to manhood through rural vengeance and community validation.

Plot Progression

1. The Boy's Burden
2. Loss and Displacement
3. The Road to Redemption
4. Hero's Return