I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937

Four-year-old Gertie Ballard is a static character whose critical illness serves as the inciting incident for the entire plot. The Ballard family’s journey from Kenya to New York via Germany aboard the Hindenburg is undertaken solely to find a cure for her life-threatening malaria. Her character functions on a symbolic level, representing both the intense vulnerability of childhood and the powerful force of familial love that rises to protect it. Her wellbeing is the metric by which the family’s hope is measured, and her moments of feverish crisis create the story’s most urgent emotional stakes, grounding the larger, historical drama in a personal struggle for survival. Even Panya is fiercely protective of Gertie, and every risk the family takes is a direct reflection of Gertie’s importance.

Gertie embodies the theme of Childhood Innocence as a Moral Compass. She possesses an intuitive and unfiltered perception of the world, which the narrative uses as an accurate moral gauge. This is most evident in her recurring game of comparing people to animals, a motif that strips away adult pretense and reveals essential character traits. Her immediate and unprompted declaration that the menacing Colonel Kohl “looks like a big cobra” (32) pierces his facade of authority to identify the predatory evil he represents. The observation foreshadows the events that unfold and establishes a symbolic identity for Kohl that is built on in later sections.

Peter Singer functions as the novel’s deuteragonist, a round and static character with a hidden identity. He is a kind, knowledgeable employee of the Zeppelin Company and a caring single father to his daughter, Marty. This warm and trustworthy persona serves as an effective disguise for his dual role as a spy working to undermine the Nazi regime. His fluency in German and position with the Zeppelin Company grant him a level of access and credibility that make him the perfect agent for smuggling sensitive documents to American authorities. While his core convictions and calm demeanor remain consistent throughout the story, he is a round character due to the complexity of balancing his dangerous, clandestine mission with his role as a loving parent. He operates as the central figure in the espionage subplot, transforming what begins as a passenger’s rumor into a tangible, high stakes conflict that directly intersects with Hugo’s personal journey.

Mr. Singer’s primary narrative purpose is to serve as a catalyst for Hugo’s moral development and to embody the theme of acting courageously in the face of fear. He models a form of bravery that is quiet, deliberate, and rooted in conviction rather than in militaristic confrontation. When Hugo discovers his secret in the cargo hold, Mr. Singer does not panic. Instead, he communicates a silent plea for help, placing his trust in the boy’s character. Mr. Singer’s unwavering resolve, even when held at gunpoint by Colonel Kohl, provides a powerful example of principled resistance. His survival and the subsequent capture of the spies listed in his documents confirm the significance of his and Hugo’s actions, demonstrating that individual courage can have a meaningful impact against a formidable evil.

Colonel Joseph Kohl is the story’s antagonist, a flat and static character who personifies the encroaching political evil of the Nazi regime. His character is symbolic, representing the menacing ideology of Nazism rather than portraying a complex individual. His introduction is marked by his uniform, his blood-red swastika armband, and the Luger pistol at his belt, all of which inject an atmosphere of dread and external conflict into the seemingly self-contained world of the Hindenburg. As a figure “known to be a vicious Nazi” (31), his purpose is singular and unwavering: to locate and capture the spy who has stolen secret documents. He pursues this goal with a ruthless efficiency, demonstrating no other motivation or aspect of personality beyond his mission.

Kohl’s character is built on an aura of predatory intimidation. This is reinforced through his dialogue and the intuitive reactions of the child characters. He attempts to psychologically manipulate Hugo, claiming he can identify a liar by a scent like “rotting flesh” (65), a detail that highlights his strategic use of intimidation. His threatening presence is astutely likened to a “big cobra” (32) by Gertie, and the cobras that later appear in Hugo’s nightmares symbolize Kohl. 

Kohl’s demise during the disaster symbolizes and foreshadows the defeat of Nazi Germany and suggests that the destructive forces of the era, which he represents, ultimately consume their own agents.

Martha “Marty” Singer is a significant flat, supporting character who provides Hugo with his first real friendship after a year of isolation in Kenya. As an experienced zeppelin traveler, she initially acts as a foil to Hugo; where he is anxious and burdened by his family’s crisis, she views the journey with an easy confidence and sense of adventure. She is friendly, outgoing, and perceptive, quickly forming a bond with both Hugo and Gertie. This friendship creates a space of childhood “normalcy” amid the escalating dangers of Gertie’s illness, the disaster, and the spy plot. Her loyalty to her father and her empathy for the Ballard family establish her as a kind and reliable ally for Hugo. Her assertion that she and her father have been “a team” since her mother’s death elicits sympathy in Hugo and helps him understand the consequences if Marty loses her father. In this way, Marty plays into Hugo’s decision to protect Mr. Singer.

Hugo’s parents, referred to as “Mom” and “Dad” in the novel, are flat, supporting characters who embody The Protective Power of Family Bonds. Functioning largely as a unit, their primary role is to establish the narrative’s central motivation: the desperate journey to save Gertie’s life. Their dialogue and actions are consistently driven by love and concern for their children. Mom is characterized by her overt nervousness about the flight, which highlights the perceived dangers even before the disaster. Dad, in contrast, often assumes a reassuring posture, using facts about the zeppelin’s safety record to calm his family. From their decision to leave their life’s work in Kenya to their selfless actions during the fire, they are defined by their dedication to their children’s safety.

The passengers Mr. Merrick, Mr. Lenz, and Miss Crowther are minor characters who primarily function as a narrative device for delivering exposition. Their spirited conversations in the Hindenburg’s dining room introduce the spy subplot, social atmosphere, and political anxieties of the era. Mr. Merrick, a British man who claims to have “important friends” (35), explicitly lays out the rumor that a spy is aboard, setting the stage for the conflict between Mr. Singer and Colonel Kohl. Miss Crowther and Mr. Lenz provide commentary and reactions that reflect a spectrum of passenger attitudes, from fear to wry skepticism. Their distinct, memorable traits add texture to the setting, and their presence helps to build a sense of a small, enclosed community that is about to face a shared catastrophe.