King Hedley II

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the source text’s treatment of racism.

King is a Black American man in his thirties. He has a long scar running down the side of his face, given to him by a man whom he ended up killing in a subsequent fight. He served seven years in prison for that murder and has just been released when the play opens. He is married to Tonya and is the son of Ruby, a former big-band singer. Because Ruby spent so many years on the road, King was raised mostly by Ruby’s aunt Louise, whom he considers to be his true mother.

King is characterized in part by the hopes and dreams he has for the future. At the beginning of the play, he plants a few seeds in a patch of ground that Ruby warns him is too bare to be fertile. Despite her words, King nurtures the seeds through the entirety of the drama. This act is a metaphor for the plans King has for his own future, which is uncertain in his crime-plagued Pittsburgh neighborhood. King, like many men in his position, has few job prospects.