Billie Jo, the first-person protagonist of the story, was born in August of 1920. She describes her entrance into the world with a simile to the approaching harvest: “As summer wheat came ripe, / so did I” (3). This comparison establishes the wheat as a symbol for Billie Jo’s emotional and psychological development throughout the novel; overall, the wheat struggles to grow because of the given circumstances, but it never dies entirely. The last crop at the end of the narrative is healthier and stronger, representing how Billie Jo has grown more hopeful and content in her life.

Billie Jo is 13 in Parts 1 and 2. She describes how her long limbs and disquiet tended to “get […] in Ma’s way” (4). Billie Jo is tall and slender with red hair; she has long fingers, which Ma refers to as “piano hands.” The basketball coach encourages her to play for the school team because of her height and hands, but Billie Jo chooses not to. Her preferred activity is piano, and she associates playing with her appearance and identity: “And every little crowd / is grateful to hear a rag or two played / on the piano / by a long-legged, red-haired girl, / even when the piano has a few keys soured by dust” (49).