Sarny is a twelve-year-old enslaved girl living on the Waller plantation. She works daily tending to rosebushes, chewing tobacco leaves and spitting the juice on the plants to kill pests. Without the ability to count or receive a formal education, she silently memorizes her surroundings and reviews her observations each night. Her natural curiosity drives her to study the symbols on feed sacks and listen closely to the conversations of the white masters.

Mammy raises the enslaved children on the plantation after their biological mothers are forced back to the fields. She oversees the morning and evening meals served in a large trough and acts as an impromptu nurse for those injured by the overseer's punishments. Highly cautious, she prays quietly into a cast-iron kettle at night to muffle the sound and frequently warns Sarny to stay entirely unnoticed.

Nightjohn is a newly purchased enslaved man brought to the Waller plantation for a high price. He arrives completely naked, tied by the neck to a horse's saddle, with his back completely covered in thick scars from previous whippings. Despite his physical exhaustion and the obvious danger, he quietly approaches Sarny in the dark quarters to propose trading his knowledge of letters for her chewing tobacco.

Clel Waller is the brutal owner of the plantation where Sarny lives. He manages his enslaved workforce directly rather than relying heavily on overseers, imposing a strict and physically violent regime. He forbids the people he enslaves from praying, reading, or possessing even small amounts of money. He enforces his rules using public punishments and a pack of vicious tracking dogs to terrorize the workers into total submission.

Alice is an enslaved field worker on the plantation who experiences severe psychological trauma after being forced to act as a "breeder" against her will. Her increasingly unstable mental state causes her to wander aimlessly near the master's house, resulting in severe physical punishment. When she attempts to flee the property entirely, she faces the horrific violence of the master's dogs.

Jim is a former enslaved man on the plantation whose violent death serves as a permanent, grim warning to the other workers. He previously attempted to run away from the property but was tracked down by the master's dogs in half a day. His fatal injuries demonstrate the utter impossibility of escaping the violent environment safely.

Pawley is an enslaved man who attempted to sneak away from the quarters at night to visit a girl at a neighboring plantation. He fell asleep outside and was viciously attacked by the master's dogs before bleeding to death. His gruesome punishment reinforces the complete lack of freedom and mobility allowed to the workers.