Strange as this Weather Has Been

Bant is Lace and Jimmy’s 15-year-old daughter. Since they had her at a young age, most of Bant’s fondest memories involve her grandma, Lace’s mom. While Lace was depressed over never leaving West Virginia, dropping out of college, and having a daughter, Lace’s mom took care of Bant by teaching her granddaughter about the land, showing her how to survive off plants in the woods, and instilling in her the idea that the woods are sacred. Bant has inherited much of her character from her grandma—especially her love of the woods.

Bant’s is a coming-of-age story. Through the course of the novel, she gains a sense of herself as a capable young woman, realizing that she’s more capable than Jimmy at investigating the Lyon mining company’s misdeeds. She also demonstrates a dedication to save the town from Lyon’s depredations that parallels her mother’s fortitude. However, she allows herself to be talked into having sex with R.L., the out-of-town miner, before she actually wants to. While these things signal her independence, what matures her most is her decision to stay with Lace on their family’s land rather than move to Raleigh with Jimmy. In that moment, Bant demonstrates her desire to change the world around her.  

Jimmy Make is Lace’s husband and the father of Bant, Dane, Corey, and Tommy. Although he is considered a central character in the novel, none of the chapters are written from his perspective. Instead, he is described through the eyes of his children and Lace. Lace constantly points out how Jimmy never grew up. As a teen father, he remains trapped between adolescence and adulthood. Jimmy attempts to get away from the responsibilities his family places on him. After getting married, Jimmy wasn’t often home, instead working long hours, drinking with his friends, and not taking Lace’s worries about their relationship seriously.

Once Jimmy lost his mining job, he became even more petulant and self-serving, refusing to find lower-level work, staying home to watch TV, never helping around the house, nor keeping a good eye on the children while Lace works. Jimmy’s passivity also translates into his defeatist and gloomy response to Lace’s environmental activism, which he thinks is a losing battle. However, at the end of the novel, Jimmy finally takes a stand—he leaves Lace and moves away to Raleigh, taking initiative in a way that demonstrates that he has finally grown up. Now signifying the resolve of a man, Jimmy returns for his family and shoulders the responsibility of caring for Dane and Tommy. He sacrifices any remaining juvenile tendencies to ensure a better life for at least half his family.

Dane is the second oldest child. At 12 years old, he’s aware that he’s different from the other children in the family. Although Dane and his family acknowledge that he’s different, the book never directly labels that difference. Unlike his siblings, he is physically weak, with stumpy arms and thick thighs, and he isn’t a quick thinker. He also feels things more deeply than them. In mentally combining the environmental damage and the End Times preaching of his employer Mrs. Taylor and the church, Dane believes these omens mean he will die soon. He feels sick every day thinking about it, but he never shares his feelings with anyone because he doesn’t talk much. Instead, he listens intently, internalizes what he hears by taking it to heart, and then deals with his anxiety through ritualistic behavior. 

Corey is the third oldest child, and he is described at Jimmy’s twin. Corey is obsessed with mechanical objects, like cars, four-wheelers, and mining equipment; his main aspirations are to ride his neighbor’s four-wheeler and build his own one day. Unlike Bant and Lace, who view the mining company’s destruction as catastrophic, Corey is excited by it all. He thinks the floods are fun, and he loves to scavenge around the flooded creeks to find pieces of metal that have washed up. Even after Bant shows Corey the broken mountain firsthand, all Corey thinks about is how awesome the mining equipment is and how he would love to ride his bike on the bumpy dirt. Corey tragically dies after he sneaks a ride on his neighbor’s four-wheeler and crashes it. Corey’s death represents the inevitable casualties the mining companies’ destruction of the land causes. However, his death serves as a quiet impetus for Jimmy to eventually take control of his family. 

Mogey is a relative on Lace’s side. One of the chapters is told from his perspective, and in it he describes how he views the woods as an extension of himself. He finds more spirituality in the woods than in church, though he still attends church regularly to avoid feeling like a pagan. He is described by everyone who knows him as a gentle soul, and he attributes his gentleness with his connection to nature. He is devastated by the ruin of his land, mountains, and home, but like many others in the area, he feels powerless to stop it.