The narration also reveals the character of the speakers. A key example of the character of the speaker being revealed through narration is the narration of how the child prepares to go to church in lines 17-21. In this stanza the reader is taken through the details of the child's preparation and is shown the child's innocence. The daughter "bathed sweet rose petal", rose petals here creates images of beauty and fragility for the reader (Line 18). The daughter goes on to put on "white gloves" and "white shoes", which symbolizes purity and innocence (Line 20-21). This is a result of the effects of point of view and language. From these to techniques Dudley establishes in the readers mind a sense of innocence for the child. The child represents the innocent people who were killed in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement. This proves that Alabama was not safe for innocent people.
In " Ballad of Birmingham" the characters seemed to have some form of motivation for their actions. The daughter is obviously motivated by the Civil Rights Movement in a positive way. She wanted to participate in the march so she must have been motivated by the positive press of the events of the Civil Rights Movements. The mother had a fear of the Civil Rights Movement, "for I fear those guns will fire" so she must have been motivated by the negative press of the events such as the riots that occurred during the time period and how violently they were "controlled" (Line 14). The characters in this poem do change significantly. This change in the characters is brought about by the side effects of the evilness of society during the time period. The mother in the story smiles her "last smile" because she is forever changed by the death of her child who is killed in result of evil.
The plot of the story was the most effective way Randall showed the struggle that the characters were having with the hatred of society.