Character Relationship Map: The Southerner

Characters

• Sam Tucker (played by Zachary Scott) — protagonist

  A determined sharecropper who leaves the migrant camp to farm independently with his family. He struggles against poverty, illness, hostile neighbors, and a devastating flood, briefly considers factor...

• Nona Tucker (played by Betty Field) — protagonist

  Sam's wife, who helps sustain the family through hardship on the farm. She cares for their sick son, supports the household during deprivation and flooding, and demonstrates strong resolve to rebuild...

• Devers (played by J. Carrol Naish) — supporting

  A gruff and embittered neighboring farmer who initially permits the family to use his well but later plots against them and refuses further access to his water. After a violent confrontation, he makes...

• Granny Tucker (played by Beulah Bondi) — supporting

  An elderly member of the farming family who endures poverty, winter hardship, and the destruction caused by the flood. After the disaster, she helps clean the damaged home and expresses determination...

• W. Harmie (played by Percy Kilbride) — supporting

  The owner of the local general store who helps the struggling family by bringing them a milk cow with assistance from a friend. He later marries Sam's mother, and their wedding is celebrated at his st...

• Jottie Tucker (played by Jay Gilpin) — minor
• Tim (played by Charles Kemper) — supporting

  Sam's friend who offers to help him obtain a well-paid factory job. He also helps deliver the family's milk cow, accompanies Sam after the flood, and nearly drowns while helping search for the missing...

• Uncle Pete Tucker (played by Paul E. Burns) — minor
• Daisy Tucker (played by Jean Vanderwilt) — minor

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Nona Tucker → Daisy Tucker (Family Mother And Daughter) — Daisy is part of Nona's family household through the move to the farm and the hardships that follow.

  Daisy is identified as one of Nona and Sam's children, and she leaves the migrant camp with the family to live on the farm.

• Nona Tucker → Jottie Tucker (Family Mother And Son) — Nona is directly involved in responding to Jot's illness and the family's need to provide him with better food.

  Jot is one of Nona's children. The doctor tells Nona that Jot needs more nutritious food to survive his illness.

• Sam Tucker → Daisy Tucker (Family Father And Daughter) — Daisy is part of Sam's household and gives the family's new milk cow its name.

  Daisy is identified as one of Sam and Nona's children, and she names the milk cow Uncle Walter after Harmie and Tim bring it to the family.

• Sam Tucker → Jottie Tucker (Family Father And Son) — Jot's illness makes the family's poverty an urgent health crisis and motivates them to grow food.

  Jot is identified as one of Sam and Nona's children. When Jot becomes ill, Sam's family plants a garden to provide the varied food the doctor says he...

• Sam Tucker → Granny Tucker (Family) — Granny is part of Sam's farming household and, after the disaster, helps demonstrate the family's resolve to start over.

  Granny leaves the migrant camp with Sam and the family, endures the farm's hardships, and helps clean the home after the flood.

• Sam Tucker → Uncle Pete Tucker (Family Uncle And Nephew) — Pete's final advice inspires Sam to leave migrant work and attempt farming independently.

  Pete is Sam's elderly uncle. Before dying after collapsing in the cotton field, he advises Sam to work for himself and grow his own crops.

• Sam Tucker → Nona Tucker (Family Husband And Wife) — Nona shares Sam's farming struggle and remains determined to rebuild after the flood; the film ends with the couple standing together in a freshly plowed field.

  The plot identifies Nona as Sam's wife and shows them leaving the migrant camp, enduring farm hardships, and preparing for a new season together.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Tim → W. Harmie (Alliance Practical Partners) — They cooperate to deliver the cow that helps the Tuckers through Jot's illness.

  Tim and Harmie arrive together in Harmie's flatbed truck, bringing a milk cow to the Tucker family.

• Sam Tucker → W. Harmie (Alliance Benefactor) — Harmie's gift of a cow gives the family access to milk when they cannot afford to buy or rent one for Jot.

  Harmie and Tim arrive in Harmie's truck with a milk cow for the struggling Tucker family.

• Sam Tucker → Tim (Social Friends) — Tim supports Sam at several pivotal moments, and Sam rescues him when he nearly drowns in the swollen river.

  Tim is described as Sam's friend. He offers to help Sam get a factory job, helps deliver the milk cow, and accompanies Sam to search for it after the...

• Sam Tucker → Devers (Conflict Hostile Neighbors Reconciled) — Their relationship shifts from reluctant neighborly assistance to hostility and a violent confrontation, then reaches a practical settlement over the garden, water, and catfish.

  Devers first lets the Tuckers use his well, then plots to undermine them and refuses further water. After a near-deadly fight, he agrees to restore ga...

Story Analysis

A sharecropper and his family endure poverty, illness, conflict, and flood, yet choose to begin farming again.

Plot Progression

1. Pete's Advice and the Farm — After Pete dies, Sam follows his advice and takes his family from the migrant camp to a tenant farm. The barren property and Devers's well establish their precarious start.
2. Winter Hardship and Jot's Illness — The family struggles through a freezing, hungry winter. Jot's illness exposes their need for nutritious food and milk that they cannot afford.
3. A Cow and a Growing Harvest — Sam refuses Tim's offer of factory work and remains committed to farming. Harmie and Tim bring a cow, and the garden and cotton crop begin to flourish before the garden is destroyed.
4. The Catfish Bargain — Sam confronts Devers over water and faces a near-deadly fight. Catching Lead Pencil gives Sam leverage to secure renewed access to the garden and well.
5. Flood, Rescue, and Renewal — A storm destroys the Tuckers' crop and damages their home just after the wedding celebration. Sam rescues Tim, reconsiders abandoning farming, and joins Nona in preparing a new field.