Mark Emenike
Mark Emenike serves as a Permanent Secretary, a mid-level official within the postcolonial government of an African country. While his family enjoys various economic benefits such as private education for their children, a car, and a household full of servants, Mr. Emenike is constantly reminded of his lower status compared to the wealthier and more powerful individuals. As a civil servant, he is prohibited from expressing his opinions on education in the local newspaper and must be content with commenting on his friend Mike Ogudu's letter to the editor. During Cabinet meetings, he is required to refrain from participating in discussions; even laughter is forbidden for civil servants. When he breaches this protocol, he receives a "scorching look" from the Prime Minister. Despite these restrictions, he holds significant influence in his home village and easily convinces Martha that Veronica will be happy living in his comfortable home in the nation's capital.

Mr. Emenike
Refer to Mark Emenike

Mrs. Emenike
Mrs. Emenike, a middle-class employer in the story, is a mother of five and works as a social welfare officer. She is self-centered, viewing people and events solely through the lens of how they impact her life. For instance, she perceives free primary education, which greatly benefits the poor, as a major inconvenience and a threat to her comfort. With young people attending school, she struggles to find help both at the market, where the only person available to carry her groceries is a forty-year-old "grumbling cripple," and at home, where she relies on a poorly paid staff of domestic servants, particularly a nurse for her infant son. Mrs. Emenike is indifferent to the needs and desires of those who serve her. When Veronica sings about her wish to attend school with the other children in the family's noisy little Fiat, Mrs. Emenike misinterprets this as support for her own desire for a new sports car.

Madam
Refer to Mrs. Emenike

Martha
Martha, Veronica's mother, is a widow raising four children. She toils long hours on a farm and at the market to earn a scant living—so scant that her children have to scavenge for palm-kernels and grasshoppers to eat. Martha's early years had been full of promise; educated by white missionaries, she was expected to become a cleric's wife but was instead persuaded by her teacher to marry a trade school student who would become a carpenter. Unfortunately, her husband never achieved the success of the teachers and evangelists she could have married. Worse yet, he was partially paralyzed for the last five years of his life. His death has left Martha and the children impoverished. Additionally, as the couple had children twenty years into their marriage, Martha is an older widow struggling to support very young kids. Reluctantly, she has to let go of her dream that her children will attain a higher education level than she did. She once hoped they might attend college, but Veronica's entry into domestic service has crushed that hope. When the Emenikes return Veronica home, beaten and humiliated, Martha initially feels inclined to beat her child again. However, in a moment of clarity, she realizes the real culprits are Mr. Emenike for not keeping his promise and the rigid class system that makes it nearly impossible for the poor to secure an education and escape their plight.

Mary
Mary is Veronica's one-year-old sister, whom Veronica must care for before heading to work for the Emenikes. The girl is malnourished and unable to chew her food, despite being constantly hungry.

Vero
See Veronica

Veronica
Veronica, a ten-year-old girl, finds a temporary escape...