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Walter Jeffries
Hester is Anna’s stepmother. Originally from England, she married Anna’s father and moved in with him and Anna in the West Indies, but she never liked living there—most likely because she’s quite racist and always disliked that Anna was interested in the West Indies’ predominantly Black culture. After Anna’s father died, Hester took her to England, but she now thinks this was a mistake, since she disapproves of how Anna has been leading her life in England. She claims that she wants Anna to return to the West Indies because that’s what would be best, but it’s obvious that this is mainly an attempt to stop financially supporting her stepdaughter. She writes a letter to Anna’s Uncle Bo, asking him to pay for half of Anna’s passage back to the West Indies, but he refuses. When Hester tells Anna about this exchange, Anna assures her that she doesn’t need to keep giving her money. This seems to please Hester, though she doesn’t want to know how, exactly, Anna will support herself. After this conversation, Anna and Hester lose touch, but the loss of this relationship isn’t terribly upsetting to Anna, since Hester’s judgmental, racist attitude makes it clear that she was never a positive figure in her life anyway.
Hester Quotes in Voyage in the Dark
The Voyage in the Dark quotes below are all either spoken by Hester or refer to Hester. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part One: Chapter 6 Quotes
‘Unfortunate propensities,’ she said. ‘Unfortunate propensities which were obvious to me from the first. But considering everything you probably can’t help them. I always pitied you. I always thought that considering everything you were much to be pitied.’
I said, ‘How do you mean, “considering everything”?’
‘You know exactly what I mean, so don’t pretend.’
‘You’re trying to make out that my mother was coloured,’ I said. ‘You always did try to make that out. And she wasn’t.’
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‘My conscience is quite clear. I always did my best for you and I never got any thanks for it. I tried to teach you to talk like a lady and behave like a lady and not like a nigger and of course I couldn’t do it. Impossible to get you away from the servants. That awful sing-song voice you had! Exactly like a nigger you talked—and still do. […]’
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Get the entire Voyage in the Dark LitChart as a printable PDF.
Hester Character Timeline in Voyage in the Dark
The timeline below shows where the character Hester appears in Voyage in the Dark. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part One: Chapter 1
...see her when the show she’s in comes near London. She gives him her stepmother, Hester’s, address and says that she’ll be in the city soon.
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...snow, but now she’s unimpressed by winter in England. When she first arrived, her stepmother, Hester, told her she would get used to England even though she felt out of place....
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Part One: Chapter 4
...girl when the new season starts. Maudie wants to know what she’ll tell her stepmother, Hester, if she decides to quit the troupe, but Anna doesn’t know. Hester will be visiting...
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Part One: Chapter 5
...who used to have a much larger estate, but he sold it when he married Hester. Anna drunkenly tells Walter that she’s a “real” West Indian, since she’s the fifth generation...
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Part One: Chapter 6
Hester arrives in London, so Anna visits her at a boardinghouse. She’s upset and has a...
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Hester shows Anna the response from Uncle Bo. He opens by noting that he never approved...
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Enraged, Hester insists that Uncle Bo is being unreasonable and that he only wrote the letter to...
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Hester claims she only had 300 pounds when she left the West Indies, most of which...
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Hester declares that she’s going write one more time to Uncle Bo and then never contact...
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On the whole, Hester thinks Anna was always destined to behave disgracefully, “considering everything.” When Anna asks what she...
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Anna informs Hester that she won’t have to support her anymore. She starts to tell her why, but...
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After leaving Hester’s boardinghouse, Anna thinks about Francine. Whenever she spent time with her, she always felt happy....
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