Bess: Loyalty, Sacrifice, and Silent Resistance in Junie

Overview

Bess is Junie’s cousin and a fellow enslaved house servant at Bellereine plantation. She appears as a steady, protective presence who lies to cover Junie’s transgressions, ultimately paying a devastating price when she is given away as a parting gift to Mr. Taylor. Bess embodies the quiet endurance of enslaved women who keep families together through small acts of defiance.

Plot Role and Summary

Bess first appears in Chapter Two when she scolds Junie for returning from the woods at dawn and then lies to Mrs. McQueen about the milk, saving Junie from punishment. Throughout the early chapters, she enforces the rules of the house—telling Junie when to serve drinks, how to stand—yet she also shields her cousin from the mistress’s wrath. In Chapter Twenty-Nine, Bess agrees to fake a twisted ankle so Junie can gain access to the house to prepare for the escape. Her father, Uncle George, was revealed alive and free in Montgomery, giving Bess a powerful reason to collaborate.

Bess’s arc turns tragic in Chapter Thirty-Three. During a planter party, Mr. Taylor knocks a tray from her hands, then beats her viciously with a glass and kicks her. Miss Beatrix Taylor intervenes and is also injured. Bess’s injuries accelerate her removal: in Chapter Thirty-Four, Mr. Taylor announces he is sending his sister away and “giving” Bess to her as a parting gift. Despite the family’s desperate pleas, Bess is forced into the carriage, and Junie blames herself because Bess’s earlier limp (the fake injury) had made her a target.

Bess does not appear again after that point; her fate is left with the Taylors in New Orleans, a permanent separation from her mother, Auntie Marilla, and the rest of the family.

Motivations and Character Traits

• Protectiveness: Bess repeatedly puts herself between Junie and the white family’s anger. She lies without hesitation, knowing the consequences if she is caught.
• Pragmatism: She is quick to correct Junie’s naïve behavior—telling her not to look at the guests, reminding her to be still. This practicality is born from years of surviving on a plantation where any misstep can be fatal.
• Loyalty to family: When Junie reveals the news of Uncle George, Bess’s tears show a deep longing for connection. She agrees to help with the escape plan despite the danger, motivated by the hope of reuniting with her father.
• Resignation and endurance: Bess knows her place in the hierarchy and rarely complains aloud. After the beating in Chapter 33, she insists her mother not be told, saying “She ought not to worry herself.” She accepts her suffering to shield others.
• Love of her mother: In the final scene of Chapter 34, Bess wails “I don’t want to go” but ultimately walks to the carriage when Auntie pleads with her to go. She obeys not out of submission but out of love.

Chronological Arc

Relationships

Bess and Junie

Their bond is that of cousins who share daily labor. Bess often scolds Junie (“I can tell you’re lying”), but she also risks punishment for her. Junie’s guilt over Bess’s fate—because Bess’s fake ankle made Taylor yell “remember how she limped around our wedding”—haunts Junie for the rest of the novel. In Chapter 34, Junie tries to run after the carriage but Caleb restrains her.

Bess and Auntie Marilla

Auntie is Bess’s mother. The most heartbreaking moment occurs when Auntie pushes Bess toward the carriage, sobbing “I’ll always love you.” Bess’s removal shatters Auntie, who becomes despondent and stops cooking. This loss echoes the novel’s theme of family fragmentation under slavery.

Bess and Violet

Violet treats Bess with a degree of concern—she orders Bess to rest after the beating—but their relationship remains that of mistress and servant. Violet does not intervene when Bess is given away, illustrating the limits of even “kind” white characters’ power.

Bess and Mr. Taylor

Mr. Taylor sees Bess as disposable property, a “lame darkie” to be gifted away. His violence highlights the dehumanization at the core of slavery. The line “You think this nigger bitch is help?” shows his contempt.

Key Decisions and Consequences

1. Choosing to lie about the milk (Ch. 2): Consequences: Immediate protection for Junie; reinforces Bess’s role as a shield. No direct negative outcome, but it establishes a pattern of risk.
2. Agreeing to fake an injury (Ch. 29): Consequences: Allows Junie access to the house for the escape plot; but Taylor later uses that limping as a reason to claim she is useless and to give her away. The tragic irony is that her act of solidarity leads directly to her exile.
3. Going quietly into the carriage (Ch. 34): Consequences: She spares her family a violent confrontation, but she is lost to them forever. This decision shows self-sacrifice overriding self-preservation.

Themes and Symbolism

• Family and Sisterhood: Bess’s relationship with Junie and Auntie represents the kinship networks that sustained enslaved people. The forced removal of Bess illustrates how slaveholders deliberately destroyed those bonds.
• Power and Resistance: Bess’s small deceptions—lying, pretending—are forms of everyday resistance. Her ultimate removal is the consequence of power structures that had no use for a “damaged” servant.
• Grief and Guilt: Junie carries the guilt of Bess’s loss alongside Minnie’s death. Bess becomes another tally mark on Junie’s conscience, driving her to pursue freedom more fiercely.
• Love and Sacrifice: Bess’s love for her mother and Junie leads her to comply with the removal. She chooses to go rather than fight, sacrificing herself so that the others might live another day.
• Freedom and Escape: Bess never achieves freedom in the novel. Her arc underscores that not all enslaved people escaped; many were ripped away without warning.

5 Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Bess lie to Mrs. McQueen about the milk in Chapter Two?
Bess says she heard her mother pouring fresh milk from the cows. She covers Junie’s mistake to save her from a Sunday cleaning punishment. This demonstrates Bess’s quick thinking and fierce protectiveness.

2. How does Bess react when Junie tells her about Uncle George?
Bess initially accuses Junie of lying, then sits down weeping and whispers, “Daddy’s alive.” She agrees to help with the escape plan on the condition that Junie not tell Auntie Marilla until they are sure. This shows her hope and her caution.

3. What event directly leads to Bess being given away?
At a planter party, Mr. Taylor’s sweeping hand knocks Bess’s tray of mint juleps onto two female guests. In a rage, he beats her with a glass and kicks her. Later, he uses her “lame ankle” (the fake injury) and her black eye as excuses to send her away with his sister.

4. Why does Junie blame herself for Bess’s fate?
Junie was the one who asked Bess to fake an injury to get into the house. Taylor specifically references “how she limped around our wedding” when explaining why Bess is useless. Junie believes that if she had not involved Bess, Bess would still be at Bellereine.

5. Does Bess ever return or achieve freedom?
The novel does not show Bess again after she is forced into the carriage. Her fate remains open-ended, but given the historical context, she likely ended up as a domestic servant in New Orleans under the Taylor household. Her story is a reminder that for many, freedom remained out of reach.