John
John is one of two protagonists in the story. We meet him in Story A, happily married to his wife, Mary, but by the time we meet him again in Story B, he is no longer in love with her. He is sexually attracted to her and enjoys their sexual relationship, but is using her for his own physical gratification and has no emotional attachment to her. He starts having an affair with Madge, and eventually marries her.
In another version of their story, John is an older man who has an affair with the much younger Mary. Mary rebukes him for a younger man named James, and John's jealousy leads him to kill Mary, James, and himself.
Mary
Mary also appears at the very beginning of the story. In version A, Mary is married to John and the two live a charmed life together, dying in their old age. In version B, Mary is in love with John but he does not love her back. Mary is a devoted partner to John, cooking for him and doing anything she can to please him. When John cheats on her with Madge, Mary overdoses and dies. In version C, Mary is much younger than John and settles for him only because her true love, James, does not pay her enough attention. When John finds Mary with James, he purchases a handgun and kills all three people, himself included.
James
James is in a relationship with Mary but feels that he is too young to settle down. He likes to feel free and part of that freedom is the ability to take off whenever he feels inclined to on his motorcycle, which he loves as if it was a woman. James is murdered by John when John finds him with Mary one day.
Madge
Madge is introduced in story B. She is having an affair with John, whom she knows to be married, but she is not concerned with this fact. In version C, Madge is John's wife and John is having an affair with Mary, who is only twenty-two. When John kills Mary, James, and himself, Madge mourns for her late husband but eventually meets another man, Fred, whom she marries. In version D, Madge and Fred live near the seashore and their house is destroyed by a tidal wave, but they survive. In version E, Fred dies and Madge devotes the rest of her life to charity work.
Fred
Fred is Madge's husband. In version C of the story, Fred marries Madge after John dies by suicide. In version D, Fred and Madge have a happy marriage but their home is destroyed by a tidal wave near the shore. In version E, Fred dies of a heart attack.
