Uncle Rich is a legendary Harlem criminal who serves as a mentor whose example prompts Carney to examine his own relationship with crime. When he re-enters Carney’s life after having faked his death years earlier, Rich is experienced and intensely invested in the craft of his work. He distinguishes between jobs undertaken for money and those he considers his “art.” His “muskrat” philosophy describes his ideal of criminal practice: anonymity and the ability to carry out a successful job without attracting attention. Rich doesn’t always follow this principle himself. His decision to reveal himself to Buzz Caldera reflects his desire for recognition after outwitting him. The narrator identifies this impulse as “vanity” and “pride,” showing how his desire for recognition undermines the anonymity his muskrat philosophy values.

Rich regards Carney as another “muskrat” and encourages him to consider what he actually values in criminal work. Rich asks whether Carney has ever moved something “really worth something” (79), prompting Carney to reflect on the excitement he derives from crooked work and what remains once the excitement has passed. Rich is engaged in a similar process of self-examination, admitting that he’s still figuring out what kind of crook he is as he approaches retirement. His proposed theft of Jesse Owens’s Olympic medal grows out of this concern with finding work that carries significance for him beyond its financial value. He describes the job as an attempt to “undo an injustice” (92), referring to Owens’s treatment after his Olympic victories. Carney questions whether stealing the medal can constitute justice, leaving Rich’s justification open to question. The episode therefore connects Rich to The Uncertain Distinction Between Art and Crime through the significance he assigns to particular crimes. His preparations for retirement also reveal his growing concern with what makes a job worth doing after a long criminal career.

Pepper is Carney’s longtime criminal associate, a stoic and brutally effective enforcer whose direct approach to criminal work reflects his practical temperament. Pepper is a man of few words and decisive violence, an old-school professional who operates according to a personal sense of loyalty and obligation. His physical condition becomes increasingly important to his characterization as he ages. He suffers from a recurring stomach ailment and a growing sense of his own physical decline, which he describes as feeling “dilapidated.” He recognizes that violence now takes a greater toll on his body and that he recovers from injuries more slowly than he once did. These observations give Pepper an acute awareness of aging without diminishing his confidence in his abilities.

Pepper’s actions repeatedly demonstrate a deep-seated loyalty to Carney and, by extension, to Carney’s family. He acts as a protector, whether guarding a film set as a favor or protecting Carney’s nephew’s mother Ellen. The 1980s East Village art scene reveals another aspect of his character: his ability to adapt to unfamiliar people and circumstances. Tasked with protecting Elizabeth’s client Wade Patterson, Pepper encounters a world in which people assign sharply different forms of monetary, artistic, and cultural value to objects. His methodical hunt for the stolen money and the Ngil mask demonstrates his adaptability. He initially dismisses many of the people he encounters as “freaks” and eventually recognizes that this judgment has prevented him from understanding their motives.

Pepper’s decision about the Ngil mask reveals a change in how he understands the object and its ownership. After recovering the Ngil mask, an object whose value initially puzzles him, he chooses to give it to LJ for her repatriation project instead of returning it to Patterson for a financial reward. His simple explanation, “If you can make it right, make it right” (245), shows that he has taken seriously what he has learned about the mask’s history and LJ’s efforts to return displaced objects to their places of origin. Given Pepper’s long career in crime, his decision shows that his personal sense of what is right can extend to restitution when he believes that a wrong can still be corrected.

Elizabeth is Carney’s ambitious and perceptive wife, whose growing professional independence becomes an important part of her character. Her commitment to work and family remains evident throughout the novel. The success of Carney Travel gives greater scope to ambitions that had previously been constrained. Her decision to leave her stagnant job and launch her own business allows her entrepreneurial ability to emerge more fully. The business restores a sense of possibility that had diminished during the years when work and motherhood left her feeling that there was no space for the old Elizabeth. As Carney Travel succeeds, she begins to imagine a “second act” for herself and takes satisfaction in building something of her own. Her difficulties securing business financing also expose the racial and gender discrimination she encounters as a Black woman building a business in New York.

Elizabeth is largely unaware of the specifics of Carney’s “other business,” yet she remains attentive to changes in his behavior and recognizes familiar signs that something is troubling him. She refers to one such period as “the old days” (317). Her response suggests that she has learned to recognize Carney’s secrecy without knowing everything that he conceals from her. She doesn’t always press him for explanations, demonstrating the judgment and restraint she exercises within their marriage. Her ability to recognize what Carney leaves unsaid reinforces the perceptiveness that characterizes her throughout the novel.

Robert is Carney’s nephew and the son of his deceased cousin Freddie. His predicament in the novel’s final section brings Carney’s unresolved feelings about Freddie and his responsibilities toward Robert into particular focus. Robert lacks a clear direction for his future, and the narrator describes him as “a diligent worker, no slacker” (275). His movement between jobs reflects the absence of a settled professional direction. His involvement with the mobster-connected lawyer Ned Garrity begins by chance. His decision to steal a briefcase full of Mob money after witnessing Garrity’s murder is a character-defining act. The theft reveals his opportunism and his willingness to take a considerable risk when an unexpected chance presents itself. He later imagines the money as a means of leaving New York, connecting the decision to his desire for a different life. Robert’s relationship to Freddie also develops the theme of The Burden of Family Inheritance, as his circumstances revive a family history that continues to influence Carney’s response to him and leaves Robert to make his own choices within that history.

Robert’s decision to leave New York gives him a concrete direction after his earlier uncertainty about the future. The consequences of his theft, however, mean that the stolen money can’t fund his plans: Carney returns the $100,000 to Junior and provides another $100,000 from his own criminal earnings to settle Robert’s debt to him. Robert subsequently leaves for California with $3,000 given to him by Carney. His departure gives him the opportunity to establish a life away from the circumstances that have shaped him in New York. The novel leaves the outcome of that decision open. His departure demonstrates his willingness to act on his desire for a different life.

Buzz is a ruthless, professional thief whose pride and vindictiveness become central to his pursuit of Uncle Rich. Rich’s earlier theft from him turns the dispute into a personal grievance, and Buzz remains determined to recover what he believes is his and punish the man who humiliated him. His insistence that “[he]’ll get what’s [his]” captures his determination to reclaim what he considers his and seek retribution for the offence (120). Violence is an accepted part of how Buzz conducts his criminal affairs and pursues retribution.

Buzz’s persistence shows how personally he takes Rich’s offence against him. Rich’s decision to reveal that he was responsible for stealing from him ensures that Buzz knows exactly who outwitted him, making the humiliation inseparable from the loss itself. Buzz’s subsequent pursuit reflects his determination to answer that humiliation through retaliation. His refusal to let the offence go makes vindictiveness and persistence central to his characterization.

The Melancholy Hitman is a methodical killer for hire whose disciplined approach to killing is repeatedly affected by anger and insecurity. His melancholy shapes the way he interprets his circumstances and responds to other people. He frequently dwells on perceived slights and inadequacies, and his thoughts also reveal explicit racial resentment. His anger becomes particularly pronounced when his competence or self-worth feel threatened.

His distinctive practice of removing his victims’ faces contributes to the disturbing reputation surrounding him. His interior thoughts reveal a persistent concern with his own status and with people who he believes possess advantages denied to him. These grievances influence the way he interprets encounters with others, reinforcing his sense that others possess advantages that he has been denied. His calculated approach to violence is shaped by the grievances he repeatedly carries into his encounters with other people.