Sascha Muchteschem
Narrator and protagonist, Sascha is on the hunt for closure. He lives in Germany during turbulent days for racial unrest. As a German-Jew, this is nothing new for Sascha, but as a Turk he feels particularly threatened. Over the course of the novel, he learns more about his identity, his family history, and his own emotional strength of character by reading and processing the details of grandfather's life laid out in a collection of his old journals. While Sascha is no political activist, his personal journal toward acceptance and maturation of identity serve to illustrate the effects of xenophobia inter-generationally. Add to this, Sascha is a bit of a recluse, not feeling particularly inclined toward vulnerability given the political turmoil of Germany in the 1990s.
Sascha's Grandfather
Although deceased during the entirety of the novel, Sascha's grandfather is a key character. He becomes a tangible figure in Sascha's life through his twenty journals, bequeathed first to his son and then to his grandson. After a dutiful life in active military service and as a public figure, the man, now nearing old age, had grown tired of concealing or downplaying his Turkish heritage. He understood that he would not be honored the way he had been if he had been forthright about his ethnic identity, but he chose career first. Consequently, before being honored at the Berlin Olympics, the old man committed suicide. His reasoning is painfully laid out for Sascha in his grandfather's journals as a series of ethical compromises which placed his own career above the well-being of his fellow Turks.
Sascha's Parents
Sascha's parents' deaths at the beginning of the book catalyze their son's emotional development. They are mostly absent figures throughout the content of the book, but their care for their son is obvious in his intense and enduring grief over their deaths. Sascha's father leaves behind his own father's journals as his son's inheritance, which turns out to be one of the greatest gifts possible.
