The Narrator is a young, unnamed Black girl who observes the adults in her family with a dutiful, watchful eye. She lives with her grandparents and has moved several times over the years. She relies on her older cousin Cathy to help interpret the behavior of the grown-ups around them.

Granny is the matriarch of the family, a hardworking woman who values her privacy and protects her property. She makes her own rules for her household and has a history of moving her family whenever she feels patronized or intruded upon by white people. She refuses to be treated as a spectacle or an "aunty" by strangers.

Granddaddy Cain is a tall, quiet man who possesses a methodical strength. He does the difficult physical labor for the family and acts as a protective force for his wife. He is deeply respectful of his property boundaries and demands the same respect from outsiders.

Cathy is the narrator's third cousin who joined the family the previous Thanksgiving. She acts as an interpreter of adult behavior for the younger children. She possesses a sharp, humorous understanding of the world and frequently uses stories like "Goldilocks" to make sense of events.

Smilin is a white county worker who speaks to Granny with an unctuous, condescending politeness, using the inappropriate title "aunty." He continually flashes a playacting smile and ignores requests to leave the property.

Camera is a white county worker who accompanies Smilin to film the food stamp campaign. He operates the recording equipment and points his lens at the family and their home without asking permission.

Tyrone is a young boy from the neighborhood who plays with the narrator and Cathy. He is a twin to Terry and tends to focus on the surface-level excitement of events rather than the deeper implications.

Terry is a young boy who lives next door and frequently plays in the family's yard. Along with his brother, he is more interested in the spectacle of the county men making a movie than the tension between the adults.