All the Sinners Bleed

Albert is Titus’s father, and Titus lives with him throughout the main part of the novel because Albert has some health issues. However, when the main part of the novel begins, Albert no longer needs constant assistance, and Titus is already acting in the capacity of sheriff. Albert is kind, quick-witted, funny, and friendly, but he doesn’t hold back his criticism when others in town show signs of racism. Albert’s wife and Titus’s mother, Helen, died when Titus was 13, and after a two-year stint of binge drinking, Albert grew deeply religious and became a deacon at the same church at which Helen used to teach Sunday school—Emmanuel Baptist Church. Albert’s faith serves him well in some respects. For example, it helps him through his grief and allows him to take solace in the idea that God has a larger plan. Also, Albert runs a community garden with his friend and donates the vegetables to people in town. Titus thinks this kind of commitment to helping others is a positive version of Christianity, but he doesn’t think that all Christians in town practice the Bible’s true morals like his father does. Additionally, Titus and Albert argue about having faith, hope, and trust in God’s plan; Titus claims that faith ruined him because he asked God to save his mother, but God didn’t acquiesce. Titus has this same argument about faith and God’s plan with others in town, but Albert serves as his primary counterpoint and helps to complicate The Christ-Haunted South and the Misuse of Religion. Albert embraces a positive version of Christianity, which acts as a direct contrast to less healthy interpretations that have gained a foothold in Charon County and sown division among the populace. Albert’s character also provides a contrast to the novel’s criticism of extreme, perverted versions of religion, because although Albert is not perfect, he lives by a strong set of morals and is not fooled by people who try to take a horrible idea and dress it up in Biblical language or decorations to make it seem like a good idea.

Titus’s police force includes members that embody several character tropes that are common in crime fiction. As a group, these characters help develop the theme of the effects of racism on crime and justice, as well as providing conventional plot points and character dynamics to fulfill the expectations of the crime and thriller genres. For example, Tom and Roger are both white officers who are too quick to shoot Latrell Macdonald when he exits the high school where he has just killed a teacher, Jeff Spearman, who sexually abuses and murders children. Although Titus worries that this incident will create bad press for his department, many people believe that Tom and Roger are heroes, and the author uses this aspect of the story to show how racism impacts the justice system and the outcome of criminal investigations. Tom also plays the role of the crooked police officer, which is a common trope in thrillers because it logistically makes sense for criminals to work with police officers to get information. Davy, another white officer, plays the role of the naive and inept police officer: a common character type that sometimes provides comic relief while simultaneously revealing the limits of the criminal justice system. Although Davy is not especially violent, his ignorance and incompetence are shown to be dangerous.

Despite Titus’s misgivings about the law enforcement system, he does also have “good” officers on his team. Carla embodies the classic “good cop” character type because she is genuinely trying her best to protect and serve people. Because of this, she is Titus’s chosen successor to the office of sheriff. Although Carla shares Titus’s moral values, he thinks she will be a better sheriff than he was. In addition to Carla, Pip serves as a counterbalance to the chaotic officers, being an incredibly peaceful person who wants to spread peace.

Latrell was a young Black man from Charon County; he was also the son of Titus’s high school friend, Calvin. He is killed early in the novel, when Tom and Roger shoot him after he shoots and kills Mr. Spearman, then exits the high school still holding a gun. Latrell’s character arc helps to develop the theme of the effects of racism on crime and justice. Titus worries the “shoot” was “bad” and motivated by racism, but nobody else believes this to be true, and many people in the community regard Tom and Roger as heroes. Whereas nobody questions Latrell’s implication in crimes, many people don’t believe that Spearman was guilty, and this attitude demonstrates how profoundly systemic racism can affect the public perception of criminals as well as law enforcement’s actions toward them.

Latrell committed criminal acts, but he also experienced some of the racism and hate crimes that Spearman and Royce were secretly committing. This dynamic illustrates how racism harms individuals from multiple angles. Latrell’s character arc also illustrates how violence begets violence. However, Latrell did grow as a character before dying; he’d decided to put an end to the evil actions of Spearman and Royce, even if he lost his own life in the process.

Like Titus’s father, Albert, Jamal Addison provides a counterpoint to the theme of the Christ-haunted South and the misuse of religion. Jamal is a reverend at a “New Age” church. Although this is not the church Albert attends, Titus mostly respects Jamal because the reverend is trying to use Christianity to promote positive moral values, rather than hatred, racism, anti-gay prejudice, or other problematic issues. Although Titus respects Jamal and shares many of his values, such as opposing the neo-Confederate group in town, their relationship becomes strained after Titus is elected sheriff, because the system doesn’t allow Titus to openly express his opinions if he wants to keep his job. This makes Jamal feel like Titus has switched sides, but ultimately, they’re both still on the same side and they do eventually reconcile.

Titus and Jamal help each other to grow by finding balance. Whereas Titus needs to remove his “mask,” or badge, sometimes in order to stand up for what’s right, Jamal needs stands up for his beliefs in a more tactical way. For example, Jamal’s intentions are in the right place when planning a counter-protest, but unlike Titus, he does not assess the level of violent tension that is likely to cause issues at Fall Fest. When violence inevitably erupts, Titus reassures Jamal that it’s not his fault, but Jamal learns nonetheless that the means of achieving a goal must be just as ethical as the goal itself.

Ricky Sours and the neo-Confederates help complicate the theme of The Endurance of the Past in several ways. Firstly, the existence of a white-supremacist Confederate group is proof that the violence and pain of the past is not over. On the other hand, the group twists the real historical narrative to make it seem like their ancestors were heroic and virtuous, an approach that actually conceals the more uncomfortable aspects of history under the guise of “preserving” it.

Additionally, Ricky Sours and his group illustrate the dangers of extremist thinking, and how this type of thinking can easily become distorted and made into something even more reprehensible than its origins. Although Ricky allegedly did not plan for his group to get violent, one of his members, Royce Lazare, uses neo-Confederate ideology to justify his murder spree against Black children. This is not unlike the historical reality of slavery in the Confederacy, for during this time frame, Black people were not viewed as people and did not have legal rights. Likewise, enslaved persons were vulnerable to crimes like murder and abuse from slaveholders. Within the context of All the Sinners Bleed, Ricky is not the main villain, but he and his group nonetheless create conditions that are ripe for villains to thrive, and their actions therefore support the novel’s primary villains in a variety of ways.

Titus’s ex-girlfriend, Kellie, demonstrates the endurance of the past as well as the futility of lying to oneself or one’s loved ones. Titus attempts to convince himself that he no longer has feelings for Kellie, but in reality, he hasn’t been able to move on from their breakup because he never got closure in the first place. Kellie’s presence in the story emphasizes the philosophy that if the past is left unexamined or unprocessed, it starts to cast an even bigger shadow over the present. Thus, thoughts of Kellie continue to “haunt” Titus because he never really wanted to break up in the first place.

Like other unprocessed aspects of the past, Kellie herself returns to “haunt” Titus in the flesh, in her capacity as the host of a crime podcast. The author therefore implies that Titus might commit an infidelity, but instead the third killer (Royce Lazare) attempts to murder Kellie and succeeds in murdering her son and technical assistant, Hector. Kellie’s relationship to Titus shows how unresolved pain from the past continues to grow until it reaches a breaking point.

As a wealthy, powerful white family that has resided in Charon County for centuries, the Cunningham family helps to develop the themes of the endurance of the past as well as the effects of racism on crime and justice. Although Titus is the sheriff, he believes that the Cunninghams still “run” Charon County in many ways, for their old money and status hold a lot of weight in the community, especially since they own two large companies that appear to “help” the middle and working classes by providing them with low-wage jobs that produce large profits for the family. The members of the Cunningham family are and were some of the biggest proponents of institutions like capitalism, racial segregation, slavery, and white supremacy, but they also have secrets and wear “masks” just like other characters in the novel. For example, chairman of the board Scott Cunningham’s father was gay despite appearances and a sham marriage to Scott’s mother. Both had other partners, and Scott’s mother, Polly Anne, became pregnant after having a relationship with a Black man following the death of her husband. The other Cunninghams found this reality to be unacceptable and pressured Polly Anne to give the child up and lie about his origins. Polly Anne’s son, Gabriel, grows up to become Royce Lazare, the perpetrator of the murders.

The Cunninghams illustrate the dangers of dishonesty, racism, unbounded self-righteousness, and other toxic behaviors. They are not the main villains or monsters in the story, but they do nonetheless contribute to the forces that make the existence of the primary antagonist possible. Gabriel (or Royce) is biologically part of the family’s lineage but is cast out due to his race. This, compounded with other events, many of which are also fueled by racism, play a significant role in pushing Royce into becoming the serial killer he grows to be.

Elias Hillington is the preacher of a church called Holy Rock of the Redeemer, which is generally viewed as cult-like by most people in Charon County. Elias is a white man, but he is not accepted by mainstream white society in Charon because he lives on Piney Island, an isolated working-class community within Charon County. Elias is fanatically involved with his church and incorporates theatrics like handling poisonous snakes and making up biblical-sounding adages instead of using real Bible quotes. He bases some of his sermons on the Bible but takes many liberties with his interpretations, thus providing an apt demonstration of the theme of the Christ-haunted South and the misuse of religion. Like Ricky Sours, Elias makes the mistake of thinking that he can preach extremist ideas about racism and anti-gay prejudice without anyone becoming violent. This is literally a fatal mistake for him.

Elias and his wife, Mare-Beth, illegitimately adopt Polly Anne Cunningham’s biracial son and name him Gabriel, but they abuse him extensively by treating him differently from their biological children and shaming him for being Black. They also hit him and allow Elias’s brother Henry to abuse him as well. The Hillingtons round out the damage that the Cunninghams had already done to Gabriel, and collectively, this problematic upbringing produces Royce Lazare, the villain who kills Henry and Elias, along with many Black children, out of religious spite and internalized racism. Although Elias is not the novel’s direct villain, he complicates the nature of monstrosity or villainy because his character illustrates how evil can grow inside a person who is being subjected to evil.