Out of Darkness

Wash Fuller is the second protagonist of the novel, a young Black man living in the Egypt Town section of New London, Texas. He is approximately 17 years old at the beginning of the novel when he meets Naomi Vargas. He attends the Egypt Town school where his father Jim is principal and spends much of his free time working a variety of jobs in the community in order to save for college. His parents, Jim and Rhoda, value education and push their children (including Wash’s sister Peggy) to consistently contribute to their college funds. They expect both children to attend university, but Wash is not as enthusiastic about the prospect. Before meeting Naomi, Wash was very popular among the young ladies in his community, dating and having physical relationships with many of them. But when the pair formally meet, he abandons this habit and genuinely falls for Naomi.

Wash bonds with Naomi’s half-siblings, Beto and Cari, long before he befriends Naomi herself, though he is attracted to and intrigued by her from the start. He spends ample time with the twins, fishing, exploring the woods, and taking them to visit his house to eat his mother’s pies. Wash is outspoken and resentful of the racial dynamics of 1937 East Texas, aware of the dangers his parents warn him about, but resistant to them nonetheless. He tries to help his father’s school by establishing a gas line to the New London school, which will allow the superintendent, Mr. Crane, to avoid paying heating bills. He hopes the New London school might assist the Egypt Town school out of good will but is snubbed. When the New London school explodes as a result of a gas leak, Wash is blamed, and a mob arrives at his house—nearly lynching him and his father before Pastor Tom appears and intervenes. The same night, one on which he had hoped to escape with Naomi and Beto to a new life together, his parents are forced to leave town—and he, Naomi, and Beto are ultimately stopped by Henry. Wash is tied to a tree, beaten, then later shot by Henry, dying beside Naomi at the close of the novel.

Seven-year-old Beto is very attached to his twin sister Cari, the pair sharing everything with each other. Eager to please and self-conscious, Beto constantly searches for belonging. He often looks to Cari for guidance, as she is the more dominant of the two. Beto is also introspective, sensitive, and devoted to his older sister Naomi. He and Cari are both gifted academically; they are given advanced material and considered as candidates for skipping a grade the following year. A gentle boy, Beto irritates his father Henry, who holds rigid, stereotypical ideals of masculinity and tries to force his son to conform to them. Beto is distraught when his father forces him to kill a wounded bird with a shotgun. He becomes attached to his kitten, Edgar, and constantly lives in terror that Henry might kill her—a threat the latter uses to influence his behavior. Beto is curious about his mother, Estella, but not as aggressive as his sister in insisting that Naomi share details she is not ready to divulge. He is so angry with Cari for upsetting Naomi by stealing their mother’s braid that he decides to invite another classmate to sit beside him at the desk the twins typically share. Moments later, the New London school explosion results in his sister’s death, and Beto is plagued by guilt at the thought that he enabled her death. At the close of the novel, Beto overcomes his timidity in a pivotal moment and shoots his father as a means of exacting justice for Henry’s murder of Naomi and Wash. Returned to his grandparents in San Antonio by the Fullers, Beto excels academically. While attending the University of Texas, he begins writing Out of Darkness, his definitive account of the events of 1936-1937, a protest to the lies printed about Naomi and Wash after their deaths.

Between the twins, Cari is the more dominant personality. Independent and unbothered by most things, she begins to manifest anger and defiance in the months following the children’s move to New London. Like Beto, Cari is perceptive and observant—but unlike him, she is vindictive and manipulative. She is especially controlling of her brother. Cari and Beto have always been interested in knowing more about their mother, but as the novel progresses, Cari’s impatience escalates to the point of lashing out at Naomi for not divulging information she feels entitled to. She violates Naomi’s most important boundary when she opens Estella’s guitar case and takes their mother’s things. In their last conversation before her death, Cari pushes Naomi and the latter reveals the twins “killed” their mother. In response, Cari says she hates Naomi. She is killed in the New London school explosion before she and Naomi can make up.