The speaker is a male observer who inadvertently discovers the horrifying site of a recent lynching. He possesses a profound capacity for imaginative empathy, causing his mind to freeze with cold pity upon surveying the gruesome remains. As he observes the blood-stained clothing and charred environment, he undergoes a psychological transformation where he literally feels the agony of the victim.

The Lynched Man is a Black victim of a brutal mob murder. Though physically deceased at the poem's start, his presence permeates the clearing through material evidence like stiff trousers, a stony skull, and scattered feathers. He is resurrected through the speaker's emotional connection, forcing his terrifying ordeal to be witnessed in real time.

The Mob consists of the white men and women who carried out the vigilante execution. They are depicted as a massive, swirling crowd of a thousand clamoring faces. Driven by entrenched racist ideology, they treat the torture and execution of a human being as a celebratory social event, complete with drinking and smoking.