Joe Christmas

Christmas is an orphan of ambiguous racial descent. He is raised in an orphanage until accusations of his black heritage force the matron to arrange an adoption. After killing his adopted father at eighteen, he spends his life wandering from city to city until he ends up in Jefferson. He is tormented by his racial identity to the point that he often becomes dangerous to others. He also seems to hate women, and rarely shows any emotion.

Lena Grove

Orphaned at the age of twelve, Lena goes to live with her older brother. At twenty, she starts sneaking out to meet a man, which quickly results in pregnancy. When she is just over seven months pregnant, she starts walking away from her home in hopes of finding the father before the baby is born. Lena is calm and steadfast, with an air of innocence that belies her pregnant, unmarried state.

Lucas Burch

Lucas is the father of Lena's baby, but he skips town as soon as he finds out about it. He is young and tall, and very far from serious. He goes by " Brown" in Jefferson, where he ends up after leaving Lena. In Jefferson, he forms a bootlegging partnership with Joe Christmas. He has enough looks and charm to impress the ladies, but his coworkers at the mill find him empty and useless.

Mame and Max Confrey

The Confreys own the diner/prostitution house in Jefferson where Bobbie works. Mame is big and blond, and Max is ruthless.

Martha Armstid

Armstid's wife Martha has a cold, harsh face, and has raised five children. She is very generous to Lena.

McEachern

McEachern is a hard man who lives by the belief that the two abominations are " sloth" and " idle thinking, " and the two virtues " work" and " the fear of God." He is a diehard Presbyterian, and does his best (using mostly violence) to inculcate the same beliefs into Christmas. He is ruthless and has never known either pity or doubt.

Mrs. McEachern

McEachern's wife is a small, slightly hunched, beaten-looking woman. She tries to help Christmas and wants to share secrets with him, but he finds her feminine kindnesses disconcerting, and so she lives completely ignored by husband and adopted son.

McKinley Grove

McKinley is Lena's brother whom she goes to live with after the death of their parents. McKinley works in the mill like all of the men in his village. He is twenty years older than Lena, and has a large and continually growing number of children. He is a man turned hard by labor.

Mooney

Mooney is the foreman at the planing mill in Jefferson.