Donte Roman Ellison
Donte Ellison is the first-person narrator and protagonist of the novel. He is a twelve-year-old whose life as the new kid at an exclusive private school dominated by a white student body and staff has been made almost impossible as a result of racism both direct and indirect. Donte is actually biracial and has a brother who attends the same school and is actually popular. The disconnect here is related to the fact that Donte’s skin pigmentation is darker than his brother Trey who is light enough to identify as white.
In addition to indirect racist behavior on the part of teachers and some students, one student, in particular, has targeted Donte since his arrival. Alan takes every chance he gets to throw racist taunts at Donte and his status as the school’s number one jock means any nearby student will join the fun if called to do so. And Alan routinely calls upon others to do so.
Alan’s status as a jock reveals the private nature of the school: he is the star of the fencing team. When the racially energized bullying of Donte reaches the point of being arrested on mere suspicion of throwing a pencil during class, circumstances conspire to stimulate Donte’s ambition to join a fencing team with the ultimate goal of a showdown with his nemesis.
Alan
Upon learning that the popular white kid named Trey has a black brother, Alan immediately grasps upon this phrase as the needle he loves to twist into Donte’s misery. “Black brother, black brother” inexplicably becomes the weapon of racism that drives Donte to despair instead of some more familiar alternative already pre-loaded with ammunition.
But then Alan is the type to ensure his bad behavior is never so offensive that it winds up getting him into trouble. Or, perhaps it is because Alan’s mind can’t conceive of anything more creative or loaded with historical gunpowder to use against Donte. After all, this is the type of high school bully with the power to come up with his own nickname for others to call him by and the best he can come up with is “King Alan.”
On the other hand, Donte’s plan strategic plan for turning the tables on Alan and humiliating him in public the way that Alan has humiliated Donte so often does not seem a work of genius. A bully Alan may be and a jerk Alan may be and an intellectual giant Alan may not be, but the one thing Alan is more than anything else is the star of the fencing team. After all, he’s had years of experience. Nevertheless, it is precisely in the arena where Alan can be humiliating the most that Donte plans to carry out his revenge.
Arden Jones
The man tasked with the responsibility of turning Donte is a fencer capable of performing at the level required for academic competitions is Arden Jones. Jones was a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic fencing team who a silver medal at the national championship. Forty years after that career peak, he is employed as the facilities manager for the Boston Boys and Girls Club. Arden Jones also African American.
Donte is taken aback by the sharp difference between the steely-eyed Olympic fencer in the photos from the 1970’s and the gray-haired, gray-bearded old man he encounters at the gym. Although his circumstances may have fallen from his glory days marching in the parade of Olympic athletes, Coach Jones still carries his dignity and, more importantly, the vast resource of knowledge about the sport that comes with having competed at the highest level.
In addition, Arden Jones is no mere jock skimping on the academics. He is intellectually curious and along with teaching Donte the mechanics of fencing, he opens up a whole new world of black history that Donte never encountered in all his February classes at school. Through Coach Jones, Donte learns the vital connection between the history of fencing and the history of black society in Europe.
Zarra
Zarra is the first girl that Donte ever thought about as beautiful. Her big brown eyes, bright smile, and glowing black skin instantly captivate him, leaving little room for any other thoughts, such as remembering his name. This auspicious beginning quickly deteriorates further when Donte sees Zarra has the same effect on his brother, Trey.
It is Zarra who is the first to cry out the Musketeer’s oath, “All for one and one for all” which applies to Donte, Zarra, and her twin brother Zion. Just as in the story, however, a fourth member soon joins the trio who are learning to fence under the expert eye of Coach Jones: Trey. Zarra and Donte are a league ahead of either of the brothers, but Donte is convinced he has the edge over Zarra. Individual competition with each other is not about winning, however, but about making everyone else better and raising their game for real competition against serious opponents.
Zarra is also the first to bring up the subject of the race of the creator of The Three Musketeers. As a result of Zarra’s outrage that Alexandre Dumas has been presented as a white man writing about white swordsmen, Donte learns the complete history of the history conveyed to him by Coach Jones. Zarra is the conscience and cultural activist of the four core members of the Boys and Girls Club fencing team.
