Sons of Anarchy: What’s the Deal With the Mysterious Homeless Woman? (2024)

One of the enduring questions hanging around the hit series Sons of Anarchy is who — or possibly what — the mysterious Homeless Woman represents. Played by Olivia Burnette, the Homeless Woman appears seemingly at random. But as the show progresses, it becomes clear that she is in some way connected to SOA's characters. The show's creator, Kurt Sutter, has tried to give answers about her identity, but instead of satisfying people's curiosity, he may have only amplified the confusion.

Chaos is a by-product of the turbulent, crime-filled lives of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Originals (SAMCRO) members. The biker gang is always getting robbed, beaten up, shot, or muscled on their turf as they deal with corrupt politicians, rival gangs, racism, and vigilantism while running guns in the Western US. Despite this, they somehow manage to endure all the mayhem and, at least a handful, manage to survive to Sons of Anarchy's conclusion. During some of the most critical points in the series, the Homeless Woman is there.

This article was updated on June 22, 2024, by Christopher Raley: The Sons of Anarchy was, at the time, one of FX's best shows, and the final season drew a large viewership. While fundamentally a down-to-earth, gritty drama, SOA had its points, like the Homeless Woman, that left fans scratching their heads.

Kurt Sutter Explains the Homeless Woman — Sort Of

Sutter's Explanations May Have Created More Confusion

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter has addressed the issue before, albeit with just slightly more clarity than the show ultimately provided. In an Instagram Q&A, he referred to her as “the magic that anarchy summons and the mortality it extinguishes. She's the bringer of eternal light and the harbinger of all things dark.” This comment makes her sound a lot like a guardian angel tied to the chaos that surrounds SAMCRO. However, he also adds, “She is the chicken and the squirrel and all their broken eggs and rotting acorns… She is you, me and your Uncle Murray,” which only makes things more confusing.

Sutter's answers sound a lot like the answers of someone who's tired of answering a question. In a YouTube video, Sutter reads a question from a fan about the Homeless Woman and comments, "You know I've answered this question a thousand times." Then, without prelude or further comment, he looks at the camera and says, "The Homeless Girl is Jesus Christ." Well, maybe.

• In an interview, Kurt Sutter acknowledged that he is active on social media but considers the practice "a necessary evil in terms of the television landscape these days."
• In the same interview, Sutter said of Season 7 of SOA, "I hope that at the end of the season, that the final episode basically feels like, 'OK, it was a great season, and now there's no more story we need to tell.'"

However, Sutter's answers may be more considered than they seem. Take Sutter at his word for a moment and assume that the Homeless Woman is Jesus Christ. The problem is that Christ doesn't exactly fit in with Sutter's previous statements about the Homeless Woman's identity. But all these answers may contain kernels of truth left for the viewer to piece together.

The Homeless Woman Interacts with the Characters of SOA

She May Represent A Combination of Things

A fixture throughout the fictional town of Charming, California, the Homeless Woman appears 11 times during Sons of Anarchy's run of seven seasons, usually right before or around violent incidents involving death. Viewers first see her in Season 1 sitting outside a shop. Gemma gives her some money and she says that Able will take care of her children. Later in episode 13, the Homeless Woman gives Jax a blanket to have through the night and is there when he leaves.

In Seasons 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively, viewers see the Homeless Woman entering a church, in a market in Belfast, Ireland, going through garbage moments before Tara is taken, and again going through garbage near the dog fights. Many times Jax sees her (cementing the notion that the woman is somehow connected to Jax), and sometimes she speaks but what she says is either pregnant with symbolism or nonsense.

• The blanket may be connected to a parable Jesus tells in which a king tells his subjects that the good deeds they did (such as clothing a stranger) were done for him.
• The Homeless Woman's one-sided conversation with a stuffed toy seems to heighten the impression that she is trying to communicate something, but can't.

In Season 6, she appears twice. Once, she notices Brooke walking past her while she digs through a dumpster. Another time, she pushes a stuffed pony in a shopping cart while Juice finishes discarding evidence that could point to Tara's murder. In Season 7, fans see her once, standing in line for a vending machine, before she appears twice in the final episode.

The Homeless Woman never reveals her identity to the townsfolk, including Jax Teller. Jax even confronts her at Sons of Anarchy's end, interrupting her Biblical meal of bread and wine, wanting to know who she is. She simply replies, “It’s time,” and hands him a blanket, seemingly the same one he gave her when they met as the series began. It was an ominous final moment between them, considering not long after, Jax was dead, and the series concludes on a bloody frame of bread and wine, cementing the woman's religious symbolism.

The Homeless Woman as a Spiritual Guide

She May Be More Than a Homeless Person

Her number of appearances may be no accident. The number 11 can sometimes have religious connotations, particularly as it relates to angels or spirit guides. In the Hindu religion, the number 11 is connected to angels but is also connected to gaining a deeper understanding of events and wisdom that is spiritual. In this regard, some fans have argued that she may have been a guardian angel for the show's main protagonist, Jackson "Jax" Teller. After several encounters in their hometown, she seems far more transient than at first glance. When she suddenly appears on the streets of Belfast, Ireland, instead of her normal California dwelling, her presence seems to reinforce that she is a spiritual entity, perhaps taking a form only Jax can see.

• In the Hindu religion, angel number 11 is often sent to people who are on the verge of a spiritual awakening and need to be guided to a certain point of understanding to gain it.
• The angel number 11 seems not to be a physical embodiment but a kind of message that encourages people to trust their intuition.

But there is more to the number 11. It may also have significance from a Judeo-Christian viewpoint. If the number 10 symbolizes law and order (as in the 10 commandments), then 11 is thought to symbolize the reverse: lawlessness and disorder. As a result, 11 can be connected to judgment. Given this, the Homeless Woman may represent impending doom.

As a result of these things, Sutter's apparently contradictory comments about her being the "bringer of eternal light and the harbinger of all things dark" may have shed more light on the character than one first thought. Combining the two interpretations, the Homeless Woman may represent an opportunity for wisdom and understanding before impending violence and destruction.

The Homeless Woman as a Religious Symbol

Does She Represent Jesus Christ?

Sutter's statement that she is Jesus Christ seems unlikely until one considers the imagery at the end of the show. The woman is shown eating bread and wine, and the image is connected to the final moments of the show, as Jax is dead and bleeding on the road and two crows eat the bread.

• In Biblical symbolism, birds are often negative, representing wickedness, especially if the bird is considered unclean according to Old Testament dietary restrictions.
• The final image of crows eating the bread may symbolize a wasted opportunity for redemption.

Bread and wine are the two elements of the Christian ordinance of Communion. In the New Testament, Communion is instituted as a dinner, a time to remember Jesus Christ, his death by crucifixion, and (in the Christian teaching), his resurrection. It is based on the last meal that Jesus had with his disciples where he tells them that the bread is his body and the wine is blood, both symbols of redemption.

By connecting the Homeless Woman with the elements of Communion, she may be (in the context of SOA) or represent Jesus Christ. So Sutter's statement is not as far-fetched as it sounds.

So Who Is the Homeless Woman In SOA?

In the Final Analysis, What Does She Represent?

If you put all of Sutter's comments together with the scenes in which she appears, it seems likely that the Homeless Woman in Sons of Anarchy represents a combination of things that may change depending on the context. Two possibilities seem the most likely. One is that she represents a chance for the characters to gain some insight or wisdom before terrible things happen to them. But if that's the case, part of the tragic tale of the show is that most of the characters don't seem to see her, indicating they don't have any insight or perspective on their situations.

• Symbolism is a way of taking complicated themes and describing them in a person, place, or thing that is more relatable and easier to grasp.
• Characters that are intentionally symbolic, as the Homeless Woman seems to be, can take on a life of their own inviting viewers to ponder the story on a deeper level.

The other possibility is that she really does represent Jesus Christ, meaning the opportunity for redemption, which Jax may or may not receive. It does seem likely that Sutter gave a bunch of seemingly random spiritual descriptions for the Homeless Woman as a way to communicate that she means many things to the characters of SOA. But all those things have one point in common — an opportunity to see above the circ*mstances of life and make decisions that lead down a different path.