Lester Ballard
Lester is the main character. He is a social outcast with violent tendencies, who desperately wants to find a woman. The story depicts his increasingly evil deeds and growing separation from society.
Fred Kirby
Fred is a neighbor of Lester Ballard and a tentative acquaintance. He is one of the few people that Lester Ballard willingly talks to out of something other than animosity. Eventually he is arrested for illegally selling alcohol.
Narrator
The narrator or narrators from part one of the book are members of the community of Sevierville. They are never directly identified, but it is from their memories and stories of Ballard that the readers learn about the main character.
Reubel
Reubel is the “dumpman”, who Lester is shown to have a friendly relationship with. It is his daughter whom Lester first makes an advance on and is rejected by.
The Sherriff
Fate Turner is the Sherriff in Sevierville who the narrator describes as “all right.” He is not fond of Lester, and is the one who arrests him for the incident with the woman in the nightgown. After that incident, Fate did not trust that Lester would refrain from causing any more trouble, and continued to look into his criminal activity.
Darfuzzle
Darfuzzle is an acquaintance of Lester’s who warns him that the police may be coming after him because of what happened with the girl in the white nightgown.
Greer
Greer is the new owner of the home that the county confiscated from Lester. He has glasses and “read what looked like seed catalogs” (109).
Mr. Waldrop
Waldrop is the man whose cabin Lester lives in after the county takes away his home. His apparent fondness for Lester is never explained, but he doesn’t file any complaints when Lester kills his livestock or burns down his house.
