John is a young pilot and poet born in Shanghai to missionary parents. Initially holding pacifist views regarding global conflict, he joins the RCAF to protect Britain. He flies Spitfire fighter planes for high-altitude training and convoy patrols. These extreme aerial elevations profoundly shape his spiritual and artistic worldview.

John Sr. is a reverend from a wealthy Pittsburgh family who devotes his early career to missionary work in China. He later becomes a curate at Saint John's Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. He maintains close correspondence with his son and actively supports his writing.

Faith is a British woman working alongside her husband as a missionary in China. She later moves to England with her children, including young John, to establish a home base and oversee their early education.

Elinor is the daughter of the headmaster at the Rugby School. While she feels John is too young for a formal courtship, she maintains a steady friendship with the young poet. She serves as the direct inspiration for his earnest love poem "Prospect."

Hugh serves as the headmaster at the Rugby School during John's attendance. He actively guides the young writer's artistic development by encouraging him to study the work of established Edwardian poets.

Mary is John's aunt who recognizes the cultural value of her nephew's writing. She takes the initiative to submit "High Flight" to a major newspaper, and ensures the verse reaches a broad public audience.

Rupert Brooke is an earlier poet and soldier who attended the Rugby School decades before John. From his historical place in the Edwardian era, his World War I poetry serves as a primary artistic model for John's own writing about military service.