Myop
Myop, a ten-year-old African-American child, is the only active character in the story. She is an innocent child who enjoys exploring the areas surrounding her family’s sharecropper cabin. She seems to live in her own fantasy world, but she is suddenly pushed to maturity when she finds the rotting body of a man who was the victim of a lynching.
The name "Myop" likely derives from the Greek word "myopia," which means "nearsightedness." This suggests that Myop, like many children, is unable to perceive the world around her in all of its beauty and violence. However, when she finds the dead man and then sees the noose next to him, she realizes that the world is a dangerous and savage place. She loses her nearsightedness, but she also loses her innocence.
Dead Man
Myop comes upon the body of an unnamed dead man while she is wandering the woods and picking flowers. He is tall and he died quite some time ago, as only his rotting corpse is left when Myop finds him. Because there is the remnant of a noose nearby, it is likely that he died from lynching. His murderers left him to rot in the woods and he never received a proper burial. The only acknowledgement he receives is when Myop lays down her bundle of flowers next to him.
