Seymour is an athletically gifted former high school star who forgoes a career in baseball to manage his father's glove manufacturing business. He builds what appears to be an ideal life in the affluent village of Old Rimrock. Known for his stoic demeanor and desperate desire to assimilate into traditional American culture, he acts as a dutiful son, husband, and employer. His carefully constructed life shatters when his teenage daughter becomes a fugitive.

Dawn is an independent Irish Catholic woman who refuses to be defined solely by her beauty pageant past. Beyond her duties as a wife and mother, she works as a successful cattle breeder, raising prize-winning bulls. She faces intense scrutiny from her father-in-law over her religious background but stands firm in her convictions. Her daughter's violent actions plunge her into severe emotional distress, pushing her to desire an entirely new life.

Meredith is a highly intelligent but frustrated young woman whose severe stutter isolates her emotionally. Burdened by the weight of her parents' perfection, she grows increasingly angry and rebellious during her teenage years. She fixates on the injustices of the Vietnam War, rejecting her family's wealth. At age sixteen, she commits an act of violence against a local post office and goes into hiding as a fugitive.

Lou is a second-generation Jewish immigrant who built a highly successful glove manufacturing business from the ground up. He views craftsmanship as a matter of personal honor and holds fast to old-world traditions. Suspicious of outsiders and intensely protective of his heritage, he aggressively questions his future daughter-in-law about her Catholic faith. He struggles to comprehend the rapidly changing social dynamics of the 1960s.

Nathan is a successful author who grew up in the same Newark neighborhood as the Levov family. He harbors a lingering childhood admiration for Seymour's athletic heroics. After encountering Jerry at a class reunion, he takes on the role of narrative investigator, piecing together the hidden tragedies beneath his former classmate's seemingly flawless life.

Jerry is Seymour's younger brother and a successful heart surgeon. Unlike his accommodating sibling, Jerry is cynical, bluntly honest, and unconcerned with preserving social pleasantries. He frequently criticizes his brother for sublimating his true personality just to please their father and the community.

Rita is a young, combative woman who initially presents herself as an academic researcher interested in the leather industry. She soon reveals she has an ideological connection to Meredith and uses this leverage to manipulate Seymour. She employs harsh language and erratic demands to exploit a grieving father's desperation.

William is an upper-crust neighbor whose lineage traces back to the American Revolution. He takes pride in his deep ancestral roots and Ivy League education. His historical pedigree represents the effortless social standing that the Levov family works so hard to imitate.

Sheila is a speech therapist who works with young Meredith to alleviate her severe stutter. Sensible and calm, she becomes deeply entangled in the Levov family's private crises. She harbors deeply guarded knowledge regarding Meredith's actions after the bombing.

Jessie is William's wife, a woman struggling with alcoholism and deep unhappiness. Despite her family's high social standing, she frequently exhibits erratic behavior at social functions, weeping nostalgically for a life she feels slipping away.

Vicky is a Black forewoman at the Newark Maid glove factory. She is intensely loyal to the business and acts as a stabilizing presence during periods of urban unrest, helping to protect the building from vandalism.

Bucky is one of the few other Jewish residents in the predominantly Gentile town of Old Rimrock. He attempts to integrate Seymour into the local religious and cultural community, though his invitations are politely declined.

Marcia is an academic and a difficult contrarian. She acts with condescension toward Dawn, viewing her entirely through the lens of her beauty pageant history rather than respecting her current achievements.

Barry is a family friend of the Levovs. He attempts to offer practical help during the family's crisis by connecting them with legal counsel.

Shelly is Sheila's husband. He is a pragmatic man who socializes within the upper-middle-class circles of Old Rimrock but remains unaware of his wife's deeper entanglements with the host family.