very similar and well-matched. They love one another and there is every indication that they will be happy at the end of the story. Most significantly, both are willing to sacrifice not just life, but eternal life and soul for the other. When they fail to understand and trust one another, they do so in similar ways. Kokua, knowing nothing of the bottle, initially thinks Keawe has tired of her and resolves to leave him. Later, when Kokua has bought the bottle from her husband through the agency of an old man, it is his turn to misunderstand her in much the same way.

Keawe and Kokua are both loyal and honorable. Both attempt to buy back the bottle when they have sold it, and it is not Keawe's fault that his final attempt is unsuccessful. He warns the boatswain that he will go to hell if he dies with the bottle and begs the man to sell it to him, just as Kokua had previously done with the old man. If one had to choose a superior character, it would be Kokua, since she is dragged unwillingly into the saraband of bottle-buyers and exhibits considerable resource, courage, and loyalty in this difficult position. Keawe twice buys the bottle willingly, though the second time it is principally so that he can marry Kokua. Nonetheless, he is guilty of causing the problem that she, by suggesting their trip to Tahiti, is responsible for solving.