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Tish is the novel’s protagonist and often its narrator. The main timeline of the novel follows the course of Tish’s pregnancy and, therefore, the process of her maturing from girlhood to womanhood. When she tells Sharon about the pregnancy, Tish’s parents assure her that she is not a “bad girl,” showing that she is not yet a full adult, despite her pregnancy and her plans to marry. However, by midway through the novel and her pregnancy, when Tish begins to break down in the face of bad news from Hayward about Fonny’s case, Sharon tells her she must be a “woman” now, which means that she must be strong and not give into despair: if she lost hope, it would kill Fonny. Tish’s journey to adulthood exemplifies the responsibility adults have to support each other by being both compassionate and strong. Tish demonstrates these qualities in her relationship to Fonny as her family members support her in the same ways. In the final pages of the book, as she goes into labor, Tish is at the climax of her full transformation into womanhood. What she refers to in that scene as her “change” has come.
