Rutherford Calhoun
This freed slave is living in New Orleans, but he escapes extortion and blackmail by stowing away aboard a vessel. At first, he is forced back into unpaid labor, but he views the work as a valuable way to spend his time, and because he keeps a level head and works hard, everyone listens to him when he attempts to provide the voice of reason. In the end, he truly is free, from slavery, and from social pressure.
Isadora Bailey
This well-meaning teacher is clever, and she really likes Rutherford, but the problem is that when she attempts to pay his debts, she doesn't realize what that will be like for him. To be bought and paid for will make him feel like a slave; her attempt to blackmail him is abusive in the same way everyone has taken advantage of him in the past. But in the end, when she sees Calhoun as the hero of "The Republic," she realizes his full potential, and she realizes that such a powerful man could never have earned through manipulation. They end up happily married.
Papa Zeringue
This extortionist used Calhoun's low social status as a way of obligating him. Zeringue would give help to Calhoun, but in the form of usury. Usury means that someone offered another person money with the intent of profiting off the debt or the interest. When Zeringue shows up at the end of the novel, he is implicated in the illegal slave trade by Calhoun's documentation (Calhoun ends up being the captain of his vessel).
Captain Ebenezer Falcon
This abusive tyrant is the captain of "The Republic" when he discovers Calhoun as a stowaway. Turns out, Calhoun has accidentally escaped on a slaving vessel, and when they kidnap new African slaves, Captain Falcon steals their sacred animal. (The book says that it is a mystical creature that confounds the imagination, and Calhoun has a mystic experience of it). This captain is designed as the opposite of Jonah in the Bible. Jonah sinned and caused a storm to befall the boat, and he admitted his evil and threw himself overboard to appease God's wrath, but Jonah was saved from death by that humility. Captain Falcon also jumps off the boat to end the storm, but for selfish pride, not for honor.
Cringle
This minor character proves just how broken "The Republic" is, because when he assumes command, he can't even keep himself alive, let alone lead a ship and keep the passengers safe. His death signifies that Calhoun is the true authority on the ship.
