Mother in Madras
This was the main character of the poem, "The Day We Went To The Sea." She is in Madras with other mothers mining the Marina for the children who have been lost. Although she suffers, the reader is able to see that she is a resilient and graceful person who will eventually bring calm to her family and society.
The Body
The Body is the main "character" of the poem, "What The Body Knows." The Body is described a a haunted character, pained by the weight of dreams and reality simultaneously. It is always searching for a better life and a better understanding of the world it is in, and seems to be a mystical or alien entity.
Immigrant Women
These women are situated in the poem, "The Immigrant's Song." They are described as hard working individuals who toil for their family's well-being. As described in the poem, they wear headscarves and wash these headscarves on washing lines, suggesting implicitly that they do not have an enormous amount of wealth.
Immigrant Men
These are the men described in the poem, "The Immigrant's Song." These characters were caught up in the anguish and violence of war that plagued their country and as a result were torn from their families, never to be seen again. The men were taken in the middle of the nights from their beds, suggesting that they were either killed or they fled.
Immigrant's Grandchildren
The grandchildren are from the poem "The Immigrant's Song." As a result of the passage of time and tireless labor of their ancestors to achieve a better life, these grandchildren are well-off and can be assumed to be a bit spoiled. They are eating bread at kitchen tables and cafes, unburdened by the troublesome past of their grandparents. On of the characteristics of these grandchildren is curiosity; they are curious to now about their past and the reader can see the grandchildren questioning their grandparents in the poem. Another characteristic of these grandchildren is that they are duplicitous individuals; the poem describes them as speaking with a forked tongue, a phrase that implies an individual is cunning and deceitful.
