Reuben is the novel's asthmatic and self-effacing eleven-year-old narrator. Although he has asthma he survives throughout the book and all the troubles his family goes through.
Davy is the older brother. He commits murder to two boys that have been a bad thing on the family. He is arrested and taken to jail, runs away and in the end travels across the state for freedom.
Swede is the youngest in the family. She is a bright eyed girl who gets mixed up in the crazy situations that her family comes to.
Jeremiah is their father. He is a strong willed man who will do anything to help another.
