It appears that he lacks self freedom, knowledge, and confidence because he always flees when faced with problematic situations. Calhoun s new found knowledge of self allows him to find new meaning in life and thus develop into a caring, respectable, and more aware individual. The main character, Rutherford Calhoun is also known as Illinois. P3 Calhoun is a freed slave and self proclaimed liar and thief. He believes that lying and stealing is in his nature and he lives his life by indulging in negative activities.
Rutherford is a very selfish black man without any morals or shame.
This lifestyle gets him into a bind when a schoolteacher named Isadora Bailey tries to force Rutherford to marry her. Rutherford was in great debt to a Creole gangster named Papa , who agreed to forget about the debt if Rutherford married Isadora. Rutherford full of fear fled and became a stowaway on a ship that he later learned was a slave ship. The captain of the ship was Ebenezer Falcon, an infamous, cunning, evil, deformed looking, and however intelligent man. Falcon allowed Rutherford to stay on the ship as a cook, after Rutherford charmed him with a story.